Let go and Let God!

One day at a time. I don't know why that is such a novel and difficult idea to implement. To take one day at a time means to stop worrying.

What is there to worry about when you are looking at only one day? To take one day at a time means no pressure. If you are trying to change a habit, attitude or feeling and you don't succeed, you can always try to do better tomorrow. Living one day at a time makes life easier. It makes it easier to stop being strong in yourself so you can handle what the world throws at you, and allows you to be weak, so that in your weakness you can allow God to be strong. Because it is almost easy to think of being open, weak and vulnerable if all you are talking about is one day.

I can handle that.

You've Been so Good to me!

Oh God, You've been so good to me

Na, na, na, na, you're so good to me
Na, na, na, na, you're so good to me
Na, na, na, na, you're so good to me!

And God HAS been so good to me!  Let me count the ways:

1. Two weekends = two vacations!
2. Two wreaks = two new to us cars we didn't have to pay for!
3. Having a baby = BIG tax return!
4. Having God in your life means blessing upon blessing like getting both cars given to you for free after a wreak took both of your cars away.  It means having the insurance pay you more then you paid for your pickup plus a stipend for having no vehicle for awhile!  It means getting a big tax return just when you need one, to get yourselves out of the hole of debt.  It means even in the dark and hard times, you know the light is coming and you have SOMEONE to lean on.  Someone who knows what is going on, what will happen and can help you through it all.  It means having a healthy family and good jobs and just being able to praise God for all he is doing and has helped us through!

Oh God!  You have been SO good to me!

The Sweetest Valentine

Here is me and my dear husband and our daughter on V-day this year.  Daddy got our little princess her own little rose and a beautiful arrangement for mommy (as well as some yummy chocolates!)  I know it is kinda cliche' (chocolates and roses) but it is what i would want, so it makes me happy!  And isn't it just so cute that he got Gwen her own little rose?!?

Vacation Update/Recovery

I had such a good vacation and was so busy having a good time, i forgot to take pictures of it all

Oops!

Good thing that one of my friends took pictures, so i will have to get some posted later.  But we really did have an awesome vacation.  It was so nice to get away, with no kids and good friends and just relaxed.  In typical vacation style, we did not leave on time, and in fact, had to turn around at Caldwell because trip money had been forgotten at home.  But we finally arrived!  As is usual, we did a lot of playing, almost no sleeping and didn't really RELAX in the way that you think (i picture a relaxing weekend as sleeping a lot and laying around doing NOTHING!)  This was not that kind of weekend.  We went snowmobiling and swam in our natural hotsprings pool which was fabulous!  We played a lot of Jenga and Just Dance Wii.  We had a blast!

And now we need a vacation to recover from our vacation :)

VACATION!!

I AM GOING ON VACATION!!!!!!

Can you tell i am excited?!?

You see, this has been a long time in coming.  It has been 3 years since we last went on vacation together.  Last year we did get away and do some fun things, but lets face it:  going anywhere with an infant ends up being no much of a vacation for mommy.  We went snowmobiling a few times and my husband snowmobiled, while i sat in the cabin and nursed Gwen and watched re-runs of America's Next Top Model.  The year before that, i was in some stage of pregnancy.  So we didn't go camping, because the thought of sleeping on the ground while pregnant was not to be born!  We went up to the cabin a few times, but once again, i was stuck IN the cabin as everyone else went four wheeling, hunting and snowmobiling.  Yippee.

So it has been awhile.  A long while.  And though i absolutely LOVE our daughter, i have not really had much of a break from her since she has been born.  I am the 24/7 caretaker and she goes with me to work and then home.  I have taken a night off here and there and sent her to Nana's and Papa's so that my husband and I could go to dinner or for a girls night out.  But it really hasn't been more then 6 times in nearly 1 1/2 years.

Now do you understand how EXCITED I am to go on vacation!?!

We are leaving tomorrow morning, with 4 of our best friends.  Our destination is Garden Valley area, where we have rented a BEAUTIFUL cabin complete with a natural hot springs pool that i plan on being in FREQUENTLY.  We will be snowmobiling and swimming and just having a good time.  No responsibilities, no kids and best of all, it is already all paid for!

I can't wait!!!!

Where is the Light?!?

Sometimes life throws you sunshine and roses.  And sometimes life just slips along, easily with little ups or downs.  And sometimes life throws you lemons.

Now, though i can overwhelmingly say that my life for the most part is good, and i am a positive person with a positive outlook, for much of our married life it has seemed like life has thrown us a good bit of lemons.  It has been hard, and a struggle to learn to live together, to learn to be good stewards of our finances and just to follow God's will for our lives, make good decisions and fit it all in!

So this fall when i started a new job and we took a look at how that was going to help us financially, we started to make a debt pay-off plan.  And as we planned and figured and looked towards the future, we got excited!  It seemed we were finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel, a time when we would finally get our sunshine and roses!  A day, in the not to far future, that we could be under much less debt, that we could live on one income, and not be so tight and struggling all the time.

We basked in that light for about 2 months.  And then the tunnel begin to close.

It started with an accident that took both of our vehicles.  We tried to focus on the positive (no one was hurt, God provided vehicles for us that same day) but it still brought about some unexpected expenses.  But i figured, that only sets us back a couple months, and we can still go on vacation, so we can overcome this.  Then we figured out taxes with my new job and realized due to witholding we would be loosing $80 dollars in income per month.  Though this was also a good thing, because it meant we won't have to pay self-employment taxes next year, it still affected the amount we have every month to pay towards debt.  Sigh.

And my pessimistic husband was growing more pessimistic.  Why should we plan and get our hopes up?  All that happens is something bad to mess them up.  It is easier to not hope or plan at all, He said.  But i remained positive and focused on all God has blessed us with, and how much worse it could be.

Until this morning.  When i rolled out of our nice and toasty bed and thought, it seems just a bit chillier then usual.  Which i soon confirmed with a look at our thermostat.  It said 63.  63!  My wonderful husband rolled himself out of bed at that point and went down to restart the heater, and thankfully it came back on.  But my optimism is gone and i am finding it hard to focus on the positive.  All i can keep thinking is this:  "Great, now we are going to have to replace our heater and we will be thousands more in debt and we will never be able to get out of debt, certainly not within our tidy little year plan we had, and i will have to work forever because without debt payoff, we certainly can not live on one income."

That is all i can think.

And the light at the end of the tunnel almost goes out

Who Am I?

I think i might be Italian.

Or some part of me wants to be!

Allow me to elaborate:

My favorite food?  Pasta, all forms!

Most eaten food at our house?  Spaghetti

Addicted to gelato?  Oh yes!  But only real ITALIAN gelato

A little wine now and then?  Yes, i enjoy a good Moscato occasionally

Big, loud, noisy family who gets together to eat and talk and talk and eat and argue?  Yes, Yes, Yes and YES!


See!  I AM Italian!

Oh, wait.  Or is that last one Greek?

Many-Faces

Today i was pondering how one person can have so many different facets of themselves.  Sometimes i feel like given different circumstances, i could be someone entirely different.  I am not just one thing, and i am not only what you see on the surface.

Let me show you what i mean

First there is the preppy me:
A person who likes to wear power suits and stilletos and is confident, perfect, dependable and always on time.  This person never has baby goo on her clothes and always has her hair, makeup and nails done.  When i get home i would put on an argyle sweater and an apron and make pot roast for my husband.  This part of me thrives on being in charge, power, to do lists, accomplishments, accolades and the satisfaction of a job well done.

Then there is the farm girl me:
This person doesn't freak out when she has to doctor cows, brand and castrate, sometimes doctor little brothers and sisters too!  She is also confident and competent and can irrigate by herself, saddle and ride horses, fish, hunt and doesn't mind getting dirty, wet and cold.  The outside is her playground and she loves to be found hunting with her husband to bring in meat for the family, or throwing the hay to the cows.

Then there is the hard-working pioneer woman:
This person thrives on having a clean and orderly house, growing flowers and gardening and preserving all that beautiful produce to help her family make it through the winter.  She enjoys to go picking fruits and vegetables from generous neighbors and friends and though she doesn't particularly enjoy the weeding, watering, canning and drying, she does like the results of her labors.  She sews for her family and loves to knit hand-made gifts, and make hand-made candles, soaps, etc.  She is also interested in learning the medicinal properties of herbs and spices and is interested in natural remedies.  This person sometimes feels they had it easier 100 years ago because mommies and daddies didn't have to leave their children to go and work, and wishes that is the way it could be now.

And there is the hippie side of me....
This person loves to wear beautiful bright and rich colored flowing fabrics, would love to know how to paint exquisite oil paintings and would love to go barefoot year round.  This side of me would like to live somewhere warm all year, always be tan, have some henna tattoos, and perform massage for a living.  This person would also eat all organic, naturally grown, unprocessed foods and loves soy, bean sprouts, salmon and wheat grass.  This is a rather undeveloped side of me, but are all desires that i have.  I think if given time it might become a stronger part of my personality, though my preppy side might get in a fight with my hippie side.

Finally there is the mommy side:

Right now, this is by far the side you see the most.  Always with too much on her agenda she runs from job to job, trying to get all the necessary things accomplished and still find time for herself.  She is usually covered in snot and spit up, hair in a ponytail, no makeup and dark circles.  If she could, she would probably be in sweats most days.  She is busy, busy, busy and cares little for herself when the needs of her family are not fulfilled.  She always has something she is doing and rarely takes a rest.  Her children and her spouse come way before herself.

I just feel like there are so many, many things that i could do and be and become.  I would love to be an exquisite cook and take classes to become one.  I really enjoyed art and sculpture class in highschool and would love to pursue both pottery and oil painting.  I think it would be fun to be a hair stylist and learn how to cut and style people's hair.  And out of exasperation at having a hard time finding a good nail tech, i decided that might be something i would be good at, and enjoy.  I may someday pursue a physical therapy degree, or go to classes to be an EMT.  I wish i had time to play city league volleyball, or to become involved in our church youth group again.  I do miss my massage, and i hope to do it again someday.  I so enjoyed helping hurting people and giving them hope to live a pain free life, or to stand straight again or avoid surgery, headaches and back pain.  There are so many many things i think i would enjoy, that i have in my heart.  Thus the many facets of me.

Though i don't think God made any of us just one-sided.  We are, after all, an image of Him.  Slight though it may be and imperfect, we carry His likeness.  And God, is NOT one-sided.  He is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, He is Christ our savior, He is God our creator, He is Healer and Teacher and Shephard and Abba Father or Daddy.  He is our Friend and our Judge and our Intercessor.  He is the Holy Spirit, living within us and guiding us.

So i guess i am just taking after my Daddy.  And He is a good person to be mirroring.

How and Why?!?

Do you ever wonder where the internet comes from?

And how do we all get to access the SAME THING all over the world?  Do they have a big tower or something that has the whole internet on it?

And how do voices and pictures travel through the air and wires and end up the same on the other side?

How do they decide what to call the ingredients in much of our food and beauty products?

If something is invented that is brand new and doesn't have a name how do you come up with a name?  I mean, what if chocolate ended up being called mud?  How did they decide on that?

Who came up with shoe sizes?  Why is a size 7 a size 7?  Couldn't it be a size 2.5?

Who was brave enough (or stupid enough) to try partially spoiled milk and come up with cottage cheeese, yogurt, sour cream and cheese?  I mean who would have thought of putting bacteria in milk would produce good things to eat?

How did someone decide they wanted to make something like Jello?  I mean, where did that come from?!?

How do we have non-dairy creamer?  Isn't the very word CREAMER a dairy product?  I mean what are we really pouring into our coffee and drinking?

And Penicillin.  Was that just luck that Pasteur decided to try giving people the juice from MOLD?  I bet they thought he was crazy, until it was proven to help.

Or Crisco, where does yeast come from?!?, honey-why would you try that stuff?, maple syrup-what would make you decide to start drilling holes in trees and tasting what came out of them?

And on, and on, and on.

I just don't understand how people come up with these ideas and then how they even BEGIN to create them!  Or are brave enough to try something that has never been tried before.  I mean, at one time the telephone idea would have had to have been pulled out of thin air.  I mean, why would you even think that might be possible?!?  And then how would you figure out how to make it work?

Couponing Envy

I find i am having couponing envy.

I am keeping updated on my couponing sights, the ads, the coupons, and i just watched a UTube video on it.  And as i was seeing the CART LOADS of stuff that other women had got for free or VERY cheap, i began to get envious.  And in typical ME fashion, had an urge to go full bore, all chambers open and blazing on this couponing thing!

I could see myself saying to my husband:   "Lets subscribe to the paper and do the couponing deal.  It is only $12 per month and then i can really do this the right way!  I can get TONS of stuff for little to no cost!  We will never run out of food!  I will go every week, maybe several times a week.  Cause how can i be letting other people get all these amazing deals while i am not?!?!  We can't pass up these deals because they are DEALS!"

And then, several months, days or weeks down the road, i would probably find myself either:

1. Overwhelmed with coupons, no organizing method and too many papers
2. Not enough time to go shopping to get all these deals
3. Not enough money to get my pantry stocked up
4. Not enough pantry SPACE to store all these great deals
5. Not enough time for everything else cause i would be using all my spare time for couponing

Hmmm, none of those are very good scenarios.  But i find i am getting addicted to this couponing thing. I just can't hardly pass up a good deal.  More for less, that is my shopping motto, which is why clothes shopping is always so hard for me.  Because with clothes, when you find something you like that fits you well, or that is a quality piece, you need to get it rather then using that same $50 dollars to get 4 shirts, all of which are poor quality, and you will hate in a few months because you got them at Ross and they make you look like you are in high school.

Groceries I think are different, though with anything else it is only a good deal for you if you would use the product.  Not just because you get it for $.20.

So i am trying to pull in the reigns, shift down, and remind myself that if there are great great deals this week, i can just go buy 4 sunday papers on sunday and we can go from there.  More is not always better, but i sure am itching to be able to post a picture with my cart load of useful and useable grocery items that i will only pay $20 for.

My First Attempt at Couponing

So i have been interested in this thing called "couponing" for awhile. I first heard about it a couple years ago and like everything i put myself to i dove into it all gung-ho to learn as much as possible as fast as possible and implement it all to save me $100's every month!!!!

I quickly got discouraged as i searched online for info and was met with a lot of confusing and complicated articles on what couponing is and how to do it. Though i was met with defeat and my fire was burnt out, i still carried an interest in "figuring it out" in the back of my mind, hoping one day to be helped toward it making sense to me, and that it would actually be the money-saver it was touted to be.

Fast forward a couple years and now my pastor's wife was into couponing. She had posted about it on her blog several times but i was still feeling confused and it just seemed like more work then it was worth. Then our MOPS group had a couponing class. Finally i understood it and had the easy-to-understand-and-access resources to help me grow in couponing! Our pastors wife had admonished us to start small so that we didn't get overwhelmed or confused. So i clipped all the coupons out of ONE sunday paper (most couponers receive 4-6) and started checking my resource websites to find the best deals that appealed to me and our needs.

I had committed to couponing at one store, Albertsons, because of their great deals and because i thoroughly understood the process there. But when i saw what i thought was a great deal at Walgreens on cold medicine, i started learning about their rules to.

And this evening i shopped for and completed my first couponing experience! Here is what i got:
And i paid $24.21. Now that doesn't seem that great cause i know i have seen pictures of women who have gotten a CART LOAD and paid under $30 for it all! But i am starting small. Here is how it broke down:

My first transaction i bought 2 things of dayquil 20ct pills and 2 bottles of Nyquil. They were on sale for $5 dollars each. I had $4 dollars in coupon savings and Walgreens says they were marked down $6.96 from original price. I paid 17.20 and got a $10 register reward, which is like cash to use on your next purchase. All in all, from original price i saved $10.96 and also received $10 dollars. It was like paying $1.80 per item.

My second transaction i got Dove Shampoo, Conditioner, Hairspray and Body wash. They were 0n sale 4 for $15. I had $1.25 in coupons plus my $10 register reward. I paid $4.65 and got a $5 register reward to boot! It was like getting my items free and getting paid $0.35 cents on top of it! Now that was a good one!

My third transaction was just to use the $5 dollar register reward i received because of my Dove purchase. So i bought Colgate toothpaste, 3 boxes of Puffs and $2 nailpolish. I had a coupon for each tissue and a coupon for the toothpaste. Plus i used my $5 register reward and in the end paid $2.36.

All in all, according to Walgreens, i saved $35.72. If i add up my coupons and register rewards i say i saved $22.20. Just $2 dollars short of what i actually spent! I think i did pretty good for my first time! :)

Thankfullness

Lord, today i am feeling the need for thankfulness. To be reminded of all the good things you have done/are doing for me and my family. So here it goes:

1. Thank you for two vehicles that run, that we didn't have to buy
2. Thank you for roads, free of ice and anxiety
3. Thank you for doctors who know what to look for and what to prescribe so our baby girl can get over her ear infection
4. Thank you for couponing, and the money it saves us!
5. Thank you for GOOD cold medicine to help me make it through my day
6. Thank you that though i may sound like a horse and can't breath much at least i don't sound like....a donkey and can't breath at all!
7. Thank you for full freezers and good cookbooks
8. Thank you for just enough extra money to help out a friend
9. Thank you for good friends who care about us and are such a vital part of our lives
10. Thank you for my health
11. Thank you that gas is not $3 per gallon
12. Thank you for the wonderful beautiful family you have given me
13. Thank you for the brain i have, to help me think
14. Thank you that i can read your word anytime, anywhere without fear of retribution
15. Thank you for the promise of tomorrow, of vacations, of things getting better, looking up, and for hope
16. Thank you for sweet little baby and toddler laughs that make me smile and warm my heart
17. Thank you for kleenex with lotion!
18. Thank you for good coffee creamer
19. Thank you for the joy that my hobbies bring me; knitting for the moment
20. Thank you for the pleasure of new clothes, clothes that are not from highschool and that fit me right!
21. Thank you for microwaves that heat up things, dryers that dry things, kitchen sinks that drain, tubs that drain into the right places, walls that don't have ugly wallpaper, hardwood floors, dishwashers, internet, computers, smart phones, electricity and all the modern conveinences that we forget to be thankful for and take for granted. Until they are gone.

Thank you Lord for all you are doing and are yet to do in our lives. And thank you for reminding me that i have a lot to be thankful for