Hi Katclaw~ I just wanted to say that I totally agree with Lindamarie. You should most definitely check out Dave Ramsey's site (link below). I honestly believe that through Dave Ramsey, God has TOTALLY changed our lives, saved our marriage and helped make our family's financial future brighter than ever. Now, while almost everyone else is looking around wondering what the heck they are possibly going to do, we are finally sitting back and breathing easy for the first time in our 18 1/2 years of marriage! It is such an incredible and liberating feeling! We are finally debt free except for our mortgage, which we just got last year when my husband finished building our dream home. However, we fully expect to have it paid off in just a few years!! Dave has an awesome book called 'The Total Money Makeover'. It is available at Amazon, Wal*Mart and on Dave's site. It is a super easy read and it is the very first step toward finding your financial peace and freedom! Dave also has a program called 'Financial Peace University'. This is a life-changing 13-week program/class that teaches you how to make the right decisions with your money. In addition to teaching you so many amazing ways to financial freedom, Dave has many, many resources available to you on his website, including what you are specifically looking for at this time, financial counselors. Plus, if you are like me and the website looks a bit overwhelming, you can call them toll-free at 1-888-227-3223 and explain your situation. One of their counselors will be happy to help you get on the right track and show you how to handle those creditors. (Just remember, FOOD, SHELTER, TRANSPORTATION and CLOTHING must come FIRST! Everyone else can wait, including credit cards. If that dings your credit, then so be it, but those 4 things must come before anything.) Also available through his website are what he refers to as 'Endorsed Local Providers' (ELPs). ELPs are providers such as Lenders, Real Estate Agents, CPAs, Insurance Agents, Tax Preparers, Attorneys, etc. who are all endorsed by Dave. They are only recommended after being very carefully screened by Dave and his staff. My husband and I have been very pleased with a couple of these who have been recommended to us. Remarkably, so far we have not had to pay one red cent for any of the advice they have provided! However, if we should need the type of service they provide in the future, we would not hesitate to use them or recommend them to our family and friends. I hope and pray this has helped you, or someone else, in some way. I'm telling you, my husband finding Dave on the radio is the best thing that ever happened to our finances and to our marriage. Just try it! What do you have to lose??? Here is a link that might be useful: DAVE RAMSEY

Not a tile fan. Beautiful (especially Bill V's work! Gorgeous!) but not for me. I might put down stone tile on a floor but never a countertop. Just don't care for the look atop a cabinet, whereas we have several floors with vinyl slate-look tile or sheet, LOL. Had laminate kitchen counters (which replaced old worn tile; but we ran out of $$$), eventually replaced in 2003 with Swanstone which is similar to Corian. It's a neutral beige granite-look - more like beach sand color, actually - and love it. Two big corner seams in our U-shaped kitchen are INVISIBLE. The installers spent over 1/2 hour sanding on each one. Every once in a while I'm rolling out pre-purchased dough. Love being able to sprinkle flour all over the countertop and then scrape 98% off with a stainless hand scraper! So easy. Heatproof to 375 degrees. Being used to laminate, I toss a double-thick potholder down if I'm putting anything down that's over that temp. I love and needed the quiet of solid surface. Our kitchen is right above our MBR suite and I'm often in the kitchen in the early a.m. when DH is still asleep.

Let me clarify above opinions because I am suddenly the guy who likes forced air gas instead of GSHP...which is really not true. There are many reasons to use a different heat source than forced air gas. All of those reasons are great and true and good and yah! To pretend that gas doesn't have any advantages is simply being disingenuous, as would pretending that GSHP's don't have any advantages. They both have some advantages and some disadvantages, but there are also some myths about both of them. Real geothermal has some amazing environmental benefits, but many of the GSHP environmental benefits are oversold. As these systems age and start dropping antifreeze into the groundwater table I can't see the marginal fossil fuel benefit being enough to make them environmentally friendly. This isn't to say they are bad, or that you are bad for doing them, had the finances worked out I would have done one. However, payback period refers to the period of time required to recoup the funds expended in an investment, or to reach the break-even point. Payback is purely financial, whether you install one system, two separate systems or two hundred separate systems really has nothing to do with payback at all. The savings that are quoted for GSHPs simply rarely come to fruition, and rely on customers having a lack of understanding. We were quoted a minimum of $18,000 more for GSHP after the tax rebates (assuming the drilling had no unexpected problems). When the guy started talking payback period he conveniently left off the additional interest charges for the mortgaged amount. Payback period also ignores the time value of money. At some point, you have to get away from payback period altogether..I use 9 years. Anything not paid back in 9 years essentially never pays back. The fact that it will never get close to paying for itself is the real reason I am saying no. Others may have the exact same numbers and decide the benefits are worth paying for. I would pick it over gas if it were competitively priced.

I was lucky with my metabolism until my mid 30's, then started picking up some extra pounds. By the time I'd gained 15 pounds, I realized I needed to to something, to not see my weight continue to rise. Around that time Dolly Parton, who'd become noticeably slimmer, was responding to interviewers, about how she'd lost the weight. She said that she still ate everything she always did, but in smaller portions, and that alone enabled her to lose the extra 25 pounds and keep it off. So anything I ate, I just downsized my portion from what I would have normally eaten. Within 2 months I'd dropped the 15 spare pounds, and did not want to lose any more, so I simply increased portion size slightly, to maintain my goal weight, but not lose any more. That has worked for me for the last 30 years, as I've only fluctuated a few pounds. I've never exercised formally, but having been an active SAHM, then working at a pre-school Daycare, and now watching my pre-school grandchildren every other day, no doubt is equivalent to formal exercise, lol. Obviously it wouldn't be good if one has a tendency toward unhealthy food, and just cuts down portion sizes. Sure, they might lose a bit of weight, but would still be eating unhealthy. I'd always eaten a pretty good balance, so just downsizing portions was my key to keeping belly fat at bay. If you tend to eat healthy, and do get some kind of exercise (formal or just constantly up and about) but still need to drop some spare weight, perhaps more consideration to portion size, will do the job!