It's been a while...

This summer has been crazy and really hard to coupon with three kids.  My little one is soooo easy to take shopping when I don't have the 2 older ones to contend with.  This is the first week of school and I already have done a lot of shopping.  Here is my score today.  I spent $11.18 which seems like a lot actually but I had to get some essentials like milk and yogurt.  If you take the milk (1.99) and yogurt (6.75 all together) that leaves $2.44 for three bags of tortilla chips and three boxes of toothpaste.  The chips were $1.49 and I had (3) .55c/1 coupons and the toothpaste was $1.49 as well if you buy 3 and I had (3) .75c/1 coupons plus doublers.  So the toothpaste was .24c each and the chips were roughly .57c each.
I could have made money on the toothpaste if my Safeway doubled internet coupons b/c I have (3) $1/1 coupons that could be doubled.  I may still go to another one and see if I can do it again.  Even though I honestly have more toothpaste now than I know what to do with, I could always give it away to shelters or for our Operation Christmas Child boxes that we do every year.
Now that the kids are back in school, I am hoping to be back here more often!

This and That

Well, obviously I didn't make my goal of my new blog by the end of July.  I have lots of reasons.  Most of them just being summer stuff getting in the way.  But I haven't forgotten and I will get there.  Hopefully soon.
Right now, I am exhausted.  Trying to coupon with 3 kids in tow literally makes me want to pull my hair out.  It is torture.  It never fails that someone gets hurt, someone has to go potty, all of them get yelled at, and someone whines b/c I am not buying them something they think they are entitled to. 
But, I managed to accomplish a lot before buying myself a frappucino (with gift card money) to make up for my misery. 
Deals include:
     Albertson's: 2 bottles of prego, package of tortilla, fritos and bean dip for $2.19.  That was my best. 
     Target: 20 pens free, box of crayons free, travel band aids/2 travel first aid kits free, Charmin flushable wipes free, GreenWorks laundry soap for $6 (.10c/load), plus a bunch of school supplies on sale. 
I love getting free stuff!  I have been signing up for free stuff online that they ship to you.  It is like Christmas when I get random boxes in the mail and never know what it is them.  The last one I got was a free dog toy for Zoe.  Fun stuff!
Anyway, in case I haven't sold my case for couponing, let me spell out some of why I am doing this.  My original grocery budget was $600/month.  This was after careful consideration of how much we were spending each month and includes toiletries, groceries, dog food, stamps, etc... When I started getting into couponing I decided to go to $400/month.  But I am still taking out the $600 b/c that is what we budgeted for.  I have been putting that money aside for special things.  With that money we have bought a kennel for the puppy, numerous puppy supplies, paid for all our extra summer activities like swimming, movies, eating out extra, etc..., used if for spending money on our family reunion, paid for our dog sitter while on our family reunion.  Plus there is more than I am forgetting. 
Here is my challenge for next year: pay for Disneyland.  Yes, hubby has decided the kids are old enough to go and he wants Bud to go before he loses that childlike wonder (he's 7). 
But as you can see, I am not enjoying couponing this summer.  Too hard with kids in tow, so starting in September, I am going to work extra hard to drop my budget even more.  I haven't figured out exactly how much money we might need and hopefully I will get a work bonus at Christmas to help fund this but this is my goal.  Pay for it in cash!  I probably have 9 months to do this. I am getting excited just thinking about it!  I love Disneyland and haven't been there in years and have never been there for more than 1 day trying to cram everything in.  Looking forward to the thought of spending a couple of days there and not going crazy with it!

Sunday thoughts

I love our church.  I know I have said it a hundred times here probably but after going to huge churches or even not going at all, it is refreshing to me every Sunday the time I spend there.  It usually just flies by.  Now I have 2 of my kids in Sunday school, so with only one to entertain during the sermon, I actually get to hear more and hopefully soak up more. 
Today a couple of things struck me.  Our pastor talked about the dry periods in our life.  The periods where we don't hear from God regularly or feel very close to God.   We probably have all been in those periods of life, but I guess what struck me is that it is normal.  I always feel when I am in that season, that something is wrong with me.  That I am not doing all that I should be doing to remain on fire for Jesus.  It just made me feel better knowing that we all go through it.
The next thing was about contentment.  Now I don't think these 2 things were the pastors' main points but they are the snippets I gleaned.  The verse was Hebrews 13:5 "Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have.  For He Himself has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you'."
I guess I have been having the "wants" lately.  You know...I want a new mattress (mine is 15 years old), I want a screen door, I want a newer/faster computer.  It is really easy sometimes to get caught up in it.  You see people buying the newest/latest things and your flesh wants to as well.  At least this is one of my struggles and something I am convicted of often.  This verse is a good reminder for me.  But not only for the contentedness part but that He will never leave me nor forsake me.  That is a pretty powerful statement and one that is good to remember in the seasons we are dry and in the seasons we feel close to God.

Praying Without Ceasing III

A couple of months ago, I felt burdened.  Burdened by things I was going through, burdened by things friends were going through, even burdened by things patient's were going through.  Obviously, the only thing I could do was pray.  But you know how it is.  Let's be honest, sometimes, prayer just doesn't seem like enough.  We want to do something.  Sometimes we can.  Sometimes, we can go and hug someone, take them a meal, buy them a coffee,  but if they are far away those sorts of things just aren't possible and it can be frustrating. 
I am learning, however, that prayer is the first and best thing we can do for someone.  First, having a solid prayer life can make us more in tune with God.  I mean, if we never talk to our friends, how can we connect with them.  Facebook is a prime example of this.  We learn what is going on in their lives, their struggles, their funny anecdotes, their successes.  We feel closer to them for that.  We need to have that same relationship with God.  If we are communicating with Him regularly, I really believe we will be able to hear Him more.  Sometimes, that voice, that urging, that gut feeling, is God communicating with us.  But it is easy to ignore, easy to think following through on it is not that important.  There have been times in my life where I have felt that urging to do something and I ignored it.  I almost always regret it. But it is usually something I cannot go back and change.  I had my opportunity and lost it.  Then there have been times where I have felt an urging that was seemingly small or insignificant and I followed through and not only did I bless someone in the process but I was blessed as well.
So back to when I was feeling overwhelmed, burdened by the cares of the world and overwhelmed with it all, I had a thought.  An urging.  It is about this blog.  It is something that will take more of my time but it is an extension of this journey that I have been going on with my prayer life.  So obviously, the first thing I have been doing is praying about it.  And I continue to feel the urging and confirmation from other sources that it is what I am supposed to do.  I am being vague I know but I don't really have all the details worked out.  But stay tuned.  I am hoping to make the changes by the end of July if not sooner.  And now that I have written it out there for the world to see (or the few people that read this) I am even more committed to it. 
I am hoping you will continue to share this journey with me.

Pray without ceasing part II

Okay, so back to praying without ceasing.  A year or so ago, I felt compelled to ask a friend to be my prayer partner.  That was one of the best decisions I have ever made.  Honestly, I can say that.  It has transformed my prayer life.  Oh, it is far from perfect as can be seen from my previous post but it is so much better than it has been my entire Christian life.  To have someone who relies on you for prayer, who opens up their deepest needs, hurts, fears and is entrusting you to take them seriously.  To not just say an obligatory prayer and move on, but to think of them, to pray for them, to be their support is precious.  But at the same time, knowing they are doing the same for you.  Is truly an amazing feeling.  Knowing someone "has your back" so to speak.  Knowing that when I am having a lousy week, that there is another person who is thinking about my needs and giving them up to God is so reassuring.  And something I am so grateful for. 
I have learned many lessons from this:
     -God listens - I really feel there have been many answered prayers between the 2 of us
     -Satan listens - this is the harder one to deal with.  I know that when we are praying diligently for each other, when we are seeing amazing things happen, he attacks us.  He attacks each of us where it hurts the most, our insecurities, our weaknesses, our hormones....you name it.  He knows how to get to us even with our friendship.  He plants seeds of doubt that we truly care for each other.  I mean how best for him to take our power of prayer away but by breaking apart our bond?  Man he is good at that.
     -Our strength comes from God - one thing I continue to learn is to lean not on my own understanding but on Him.  Usually when I am struggling with something, I am trying to control it myself.  When I give it to Him, to let Him be my strength, it goes so much better.
     - Prayer makes us less selfish.  If we dive deeper into a prayerful life, praying for others, not just whining to God about what our life is lacking, it puts things into perspective.
     -We, as moms, need to stick together.  It is hard to be a mom.  Having the prayer support of someone else, going through the same struggles of not only a mom, but wife, friend, employee, maid, chauffer, tutor, cook, personal shopper...boy we wear many hats.  Knowing someone else is praying for you that is dealing with all the same things, is really helpful.  (Okay, I am using that as an example, I am not trying to offend my friends who aren't wives or mothers.  Really, any woman you have a history with, who understands you, is someone who you need to stick by.  I truly value all my friends and their prayers are always welcome and I find it an honor to pray for them as well).
     -Along with having a prayer partner, praying for my own family is key.  And that is where I will stop, because that is something that requires more digging....

Feeling full

It has been a while.  My life has been crazy busy the past couple of months and I think it will still be crazy but in different ways.
Right now, I feel really full.  Not physically, just mentally full.  There is so much going on in my head, thoughts stirring of things I want to accomplish, greatful for some things to be done, ready for the summer (and the rain to go away!), parenting issues, spiritual issues....I feel like I could possibly burst from it all. 
And in all of this, I have an idea simmering.  Taking on something new, I haven't quite figured it out yet but I feel God's calling, His challenge for me to go ahead with it.  It is something I am heavily praying about and just trying to let Him take me to the place I need to be.
Souds cryptic?  I know.  But I am not quite ready to share yet.  But I am getting there. 
Stay tuned...

You know you are PMS'ing when...

you go to put chapstick on and realize you just opened your deodorant.