So since my last blog things have taken a turn for the better. Life is so crazy like that! Literally, two days after I wrote about money issues and my husband not being on the same page as me, he decided that he needed to start being more careful with our money and not go out as much. I did not even say a word to him about it, and he does not read my blog (at least I'm 99% sure he doesn't), so since he has made that decision we have been able to catch up on our bills and by the end of October we will be able to start saving again! We managed to pay another few thousand towards our ceremony in Puerto Rico too! I have no clue how we were able to do this, but things are slowly turning up.
Since I have been back to work for about a month and a half now I have not been putting as much time into practicing the law of attraction or praying, and I find that when I take the time to say a prayer, visualize, say affirmations, look at my vision board, be grateful for things, etc...life goes much better for me. Even though I am working, I need to make sure I do not lose my focus. Thanks for reading!

Ups and Downs

I've been debating posting this blog, because I really want to keep everything very positive on here, but at the same time I want this blog to be real and a true reflection of what I am going through. So I decided to go ahead and post about something I've been struggling with recently along with the good stuff that's been going on. Most is good, really. I would say that a majority of the time I feel like my life is wonderful, that I am getting everything I want, and it is easy for me to stay positive. The one area that needs improvement, that I'm sure most people can relate to is money. I was doing really well for a while (when my husband couldn't spend money because he was working 24/7 in the military). Now I definitely need more of it in my life, not even to do great, fun things, but just to pay the bills and maybe have a little extra. Well, I guess if I am being honest, my husband and I probably make enough money, we are just horrible at sticking to a budget (trying to be nice by putting "we"). When I figure out our budget for the next few months it honestly looks like we are going to be just making it, that is if we actually spend what we are supposed to in the allotted areas. Wondering how The Secret works when one partner is doing it and the other one isn't and is in his same old habits. So, I'm looking for a miracle here! That was my little negative blurb for the sake of honesty on this blog and now it's time to get positive again! I am financially secure. I have no debt! I am grateful that I get to talk to my husband everyday now and that he is safe. Everything else has been going well. Weight is still coming off, I got to reconnect with some great friends for a weekend, spending a lot of time doing the "small stuff" that makes me happy. Loving my baby boy! Life is still good!

A True Experiment

I am really going to be testing the Law of Attraction in these next few months. My husband and I are planning on having a vow renewal ceremony in Puerto Rico this February. We haven't been married long, but our first wedding was planned in less than a week and we didn't have all of our friends and family there. We always imagined having a destination wedding, so we decided to go ahead and do it. We have not had a honeymoon either, so this will be our chance to do that as well. Not that I want to be negative on here, but if I look at the reality of the situation, it is going to be difficult funding this. Now done with that negative thought. We are going to do it and I have an image in my mind about how I would like it to be, and I am going to trust that we will be able to afford it. I will focus a lot of positive energy and visualization towards this issue and see how it goes!

My life is good!

It has been a few weeks since i have written a blog and the reason being that so much has been happening, I don't even know where to start! I have numerous blogs that I started, but didn't post yet because I am still waiting to see how things turn out. Basically, I am just feeling so grateful and blessed in my life, I am finding it difficult to ask for 'more' on my vision board. I don't feel like in this moment I want much else, so I just have two things sitting on my lonely vision board: 1. I want to continue to lose weight and become more fit until I get to 10 pounds below my pre-pregnancy weight (50 down, 30 lbs to go) and I want this by January 31, 2010. 2. I want more money. Eventually I want enough to pay off my student loans, mortgage, and any other debt my husband and I may have. This time I am going to put a number out there and say that in a years time I want my husband and I to have made $175,000.

Those are the two big things that I'm sure many people are also asking for. I'm not putting traveling on my vision board again quite yet because I could actually use a break from it for a little while. It's hard to travel with a baby! What I do want is to continue to build relationships with my friends who are very supportive and really positive in my life. It seems that as life happens sometimes I don't put a focus on keeping in touch with friends who may live in other states, I'm more into the here and now. I am going to start putting forth more effort into keeping in touch because they are worth it! These are great friends who I love and who make me happy. My life will only be better with them in it more. I haven't figured out how I am going to put that on my vision board, but I just put it out there, so universe, work for me!

One last thing I thought I should mention is that I have thus far only watched the movie The Secret, and that is what has started me on this journey, but this week I plan on purchasing the book to learn more and give me a physical reference to look at (to me flipping to find a page is much easier than finding a spot on a DVD). As I read I am sure I will find new inspiring information, and I will be sure to update any new findings. Thank you for reading and keep the positive thoughts flowing!

Money, Money, Money

Many people have sent me messages to my twitter account (www.twitter.com/kozlakow) asking if I have received more money by using The Secret. The answer is yes, but once again, it has not happened in the way I expected it to. What I expected was that my husband or myself would find another job making double what we make now, or that we might win a lottery (we don't play, so that thought was kind of silly).
A few things actually happened. 1. A relative gave us a large sum of money as a belated wedding gift. 2. My husband's housing stipend ended up covering our entire mortgage which we didn't think would happen. 3. I have started to see money differently which has resulted in us having more (I will explain this further).
The first two things that happened are pretty self-explanatory, but the third is what I will tell you about here. This is how it starts: One day, as I was going through my mail, I received a packet of papers from Similac, which is the brand of formula my son uses, enclosed was a $5 coupon (I get these all the time). Sometimes I use the coupons and sometimes I forget, but this time as I looked at that coupon, I saw it as Similac actually sending me a $5.00 bill. This is something that I need to buy, that I always buy, and they are giving me $5.00 off which is basically $5.oo in my pocket. Now this is all common sense, but I've never had a problem not using coupons in the past. This time I just couldn't ignore it. It's hard to explain, but I started seeing coupons and sales as money in my pocket. It was like the universe really was sending me money, I just had to stop being lazy and actually use what was being sent my way.
I began putting the money we were saving into a separate savings account for day trips and fun stuff, so that keeps me even more motivated to use coupons and buy sales because if I save $10 at the grocery store, then that is $10 more towards having fun and leading the life I love to live. We have managed to save about $500 in three months just by using coupons and buying what we need when there is a sale. We do not buy anything on sale that we don't already use. So, although this is nothing really profound, it has worked.
What I am wondering now is if it makes a difference how big something is on your vision board. For example, I had written 'more money' pretty small and only once on my board, and it's the thing that has happened in the smallest amount. So, if on my next vision board, I write it bigger and supply a picture of exactly what I want, I wonder if it will come in greater amounts. I have read stories of people writing exactly how much money they would like to make in a given year posting it on their vision board and then a year later making very close to that exact amount. This year should be intersting as it will be the first year I am not going to be working full time because I want to stay home with my son. So making more money while working less is going to be an experiment! I'll let you know how it goes!