WE MADE IT! We are exhausted, have the kitchen and my beautiful pantry completely set up and unpacked, the kids rooms actually look like bedrooms and are HUGE compared to what they had a few days ago, my back hurts, my body hurts and I'm piled up to my eyeballs with empty boxes...BUT I'm soooo happy! Tired, but overjoyed.

We had an incredible moving team thanks to all our friends. I was amazed at the help we recieved, the hard work all those guys did when they ALL had other things they could have been doing, and I am just so moved, so touched. I am truly surrounded by "Christians", or should I just say "People that GIVE and serve with a good heart". Our family was provided dinner for the past three nights, help packing, moving and unpacking and I sit here thanking God for them all. He is the one who brought them into our lives, and if it weren't for our church, our group of people living out their lives the way God intended for us to do, we wouldn't be sitting on our new beautiful porch sipping coffee or watching the kids and the dog running around playing in the gorgeous backyard. We are truly blessed and "humbled". I don't even feel like I deserve to live in a place like this, it's beautiful beyond words and more than I EVER could have asked for.

God is good.

Our friends have the hearts that make our life so great and through them, I see God's love everyday.

I'm off to get some rest!

DO YOU?

I'm spending most of my time over there so if you want to chat and keep updated on my every move (LOL), sign up here. It's so much fun! An old friend of mine from my highschool days invited me to join a few months ago and then when one of my best buds here in Texas got really into it, I jumped on board! Now I'm addicted, LOL! It's a great way to keep in touch and keep it short and sweet instead of coming up with a blog post people will want to read..ha!

So come on my friends, sign up so we can catch up!

Say hello to my little friend....

I'm a sucker, of course, so don't say anything!

New house,
New yard,
New doggy...

"Cooper"

When is our cool weather coming?!?!?!?!??!?!?!

Why is TODAY the longest Hump Day ever?!?!?!

I cannot wait until this week is over and we are settling in the new house. I want to get back to a normal routine, if there is such a thing as normal, LOL! I'm surrounded everywhere I go with a taste of fall here and a taste of fall there and just can't wait until it actually feels like fall! I want to bake some pumpkin bread in my new oven, it won't be as good as Erika's, but I WILL copy her recipe! (she makes the sweetest, tastiest around I swear!) I want to make a pumpkin roll again, did it a few times last season and had it down by the 4th time! I want to plug in my apple cinnamon plugins and light my pumpkin spice candles, ahhhh I just want to feel that feeling of fall, the excitement of the holidays, that is just pure bliss for me!

I can't believe September is almost over! OMG!!! Looks like I must add my Christmas counter now! :o)

Just some random thoughts today....
Happy Fall!

I LOVE this!

So what's going on with us?

Okay, so I just placed my first "real" Scholastic Book Order for Adrianna! It's so much fun! These small things bring me such joy! I've had alot of pain from my childhood that I carried with me and still do have the scars, but the greatest healing of all is having my turn. The homelife I so yearned for as a child, I NOW can have with my children. It's so great to do the little things like order books and know how excited Adrianna will be when they arrive and the teacher calls her name to pick up her order. Or to go to school and have lunch with her on Fridays which is Ice Cream Day! To be able to volunteer for her classroom, collect Box Tops for Education, to serve at her school with our church, to start WALKING HER TO AND FROM SCHOOL NEXT WEEK, sitting down after school with her and reviewing her take home folder, going over homework while we eat a snack, initialing her daily calendar which always has a smiley face for her behavior (at least so far), having a real routine now. . . a "school routine". . . . this is what really matters to me, THIS IS MY LIFE and I couldn't wish for anything more.

Oh and the HIGHLIGHT of my week . . . GIRL SCOUTS!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVED LOVED LOVED being a Girl Scout and was devastated when I had to leave after my second year because my parents divorced and everything changed then. Adrianna and I went to our first meeting on Sunday and it was so great to listen to the speaker talk about how she had been doing this for a LONG time, her daughter is in college and is a troop leader also, and she spoke of how wonderful it was to do all the great things with her daughter through even the tough years when girls don't want anything to do with "Mom", all the values it instilled in her daughter and just how awesome it is to be part of such an amazing organization. It's no wonder I HAD to volunteer to be Troop Leader...LOL, like you didn't know that was coming! This is right up our alley with our family and church values, I mean just look at the pledge . .

"On my honor, I will try:
To serve God and my country,
To help people at all times,
And to live by the Girl Scout Law."

"The Girl Scout Law:
I will do my best to be:
honest and fair,
friendly and helpful,
considerate and caring,
courageous and strong, and
responsible for what I say and do,
and to
respect myself and others,
respect authority,
use resources wisely,
make the world a better place, and
be a sister to every Girl Scout."


This is an amazing chapter in our lives we are starting. New house, School, Major Church growth, Community Involvement, Girl Scouts . . . I am so excited and will share lots as we embark on this journey of ours!

Today has been an exhausting, stressful day starting at 4:30 this morning. It's too much to even blog about! All I can say is I'm so excited that it's 7:00, Adrianna is in bed, Christopher is soon to follow and the best part of this day is the return of "Heroes". I am not a tv nut but there are a select few shows I CANNOT miss, like this one!

Thank you to all my friends, their warm wishes and their help today! I love you all so dearly.

Here's to a quiet night and a better day tomorrow....

My sweet friend Jen sent this to me while she was reading some scripture this morning, and it's these little moments that I KNOW just how lucky I am to truly have all the amazing support I do!

"As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"

"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." - Luke 10:38-42

A thought for heading into the weekend...

2 Peter 1:5-8
“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Is it Thursday already???

I was sitting here sipping my hot cup of joe thinking about sorting the bills out since payday is tonight at midnight and I just realized I MADE IT through my two week shopping budget!!!!!! It was a trial run for me, my first time, and I cannot believe I followed through with what I set up here. I'm talkin' menu and all! WOW!

I did use my leftover $20 for a Sbucks and to stockpile olive oil (clearanced out for $1.52 at HEB) and sugar free smuckers (.52 plus I had $.55/1 qps)! I was also able to pick up some fresh spinach, romaine and tomatoes on Sunday to use this week. I bought my milk, bread and eggs (3 dozen in 2 weeks) at Walgreens and/or CVS during my two trips. I was out of "grocery" money as of Monday evening and we ran out of Splenda yesterday so my sister picked that up last night for me on her way home.

With moving into a new home and incurring a little bit higher monthly bills I have to buckle down. I am ready to stick to a much more strict budget, now that I know I can do this! I not only did a 2 week menu, but also a weekly breakfast and lunch menu for Adrianna that I just reuse every week, Free Day on Fridays (she buys school lunch). Now I'm just envisioning some cool white board or some way to have it written out that looks nice. I plan on doing a monthly menu after I give this 2 week one a shot and look up/try some new recipes. Erika told me about a friend of hers that does this and it's a success!

Now, a concern of mine is, how do I provide dinners for people when I'm on a strict budget? And I figured, it's by stockpiling some items like Chicken Breast, Pasta, Sauce stuff, crescent rolls and things of that sort. I'm doing a dinner for a family that has family in town from the Ike Tragedy and don't have to take anything out of pocket since I have stuff stocked to make a simple Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo for them. So what I have to plan out with this check is taking a certain sum for stockpiling so if I come across a deal, I have that money in a section of my wallet to take advantage. I'm thinking $20 maybe? We'll see.

I will share more on my journey along. You can check out more deals as I find them here.

Acts 14:17
“Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy."


When things seem so out of control and so unsure, it's a very comforting realization of the passage above. I struggle with wanting complete control over EVERYTHING. I'm not the most patient person. I grew up with having to make things happen if I wanted them. I had to overachieve to make myself feel worthy. I didn't have a whole lot of trust in many people, let alone "God".

Fear can be paralyzing, and in fact did that to me earlier this week, but as I sat back and reflected on the "facts" and not the "what ifs", or my interpretation of events, but the realization and again, facts, I was able to see what God has been preparing us for, seeing all the doors He has opened for us and was truly able to live in that moment of realizing HE is in control. He provides for us, he gives us opportunities, and like any "father", He hopes we take them and make the most of them....focus on today, be kind, show love, don't get consumed by your own thoughts, give to others. If you do that, those haunting feelings of negativity that like to come to surface, just won't. They are fought off by the overpowering love and amazing grace given to us by God.

We are dealing with a ton of change right now, but I just know that it's all going to work out. We are surrounded by family and a wonderful group of friends who "give life" to us. We have a beautiful family that we live each day for. This is what God has provided for us, this is the place he wants me to be right now. And I couldn't be more thankful.

1st Day at the New School!

She was more than excited today starting at a new school, she shocks me more and more the older she gets. She was so excited that I let her get a new Hannah Montana t-shirt, more excited that I let her get the one with the shiny gold belt. I wouldn't let her wear the belt, we turned it into a headband instead. (little less flashy) :o) Thanks Grandma!

New School, New Day, New Bag Tag

Today has been a day FULL of mixed emotions, which for me means S-T-R-E-S-S! I have been so stressed out about all the details of our final 2 weeks before we move into my "Dream House"! I love the idea of change, love to initiate change, love the results of change, but absolutely do NOT enjoy the details of the change...the to-do's, the questions, the double checking, that is Chris's area of specialty for sure!

All my stress caused me to be absolutely paralyzed today. I didn't get any packing done, even though we are looking good on that part of things (I busted my bottom last week!). I just couldn't focus so instead of being productive on the moving stuff, I spent my morning drinking coffee, clipping coupons, calculating scenarios for CVS and Walgreens, and ran out on a couple of errands. I had to drop off some paperwork to get Adrianna's Withdrawal slip this morning and then had to go back a little earlier than dismissal to sign some final papers. Her teacher walked her to the office and gave her SUCH a big hug wishing her luck. She did just fine, my heart was the one breaking. She said everyone in her class hugged her, it made her feel "happy". :o) She is super excited about going to her new school. We went over there directly from her school to drop off the withdrawal forms and ask some questions about tomorrow morning. I'm praying she has a super sweet teacher!

The day went on and turned around as I received emails and phone calls from the friends who love me the most, encouraging me, reassuring me, listening to me, praying for me and just loving me. In moments like these, I see the women that I can truly turn to when times are tough and I thank God for them! Chris came home with a bunch of positive news regarding some stuff we were stressing about and things started turning around as the day has progressed. Both kids were asleep by 8:15 so I sat down and worked on Adrianna's new Bag Tag for her backpack. I want to surprise her in the morning. It isn't exactly as sassy as I'm sure I could have made it, but I just worked with what I have here since it was late and her name is TOO LONG for all the cool stickers I have. Did the best I could to match her pink, black and silver backpack! :o)

I'm going to bed with a smile on my face, a burden lifted from my shoulders, a clean house and a better perspective for tomorrow.

Mondays, Mondays, Mondays...ugh! This Monday is a bit different from my typical Monday in the way that I already have my menu planned (did a 2wk one), I have a jump start on the weekly bills before 6am, I'm completely under stress - - - scared about switching Adrianna's schools, scared about having renters, scared about the new house and the new bills, feeling completely insecure about EVERYTHING! This is NOT the way to start the week off. I'm in "Freak Out Mode" and am having a hard time getting clarity and focus.

After I drop Adrianna off at school and bring the house paperwork to the new school for transfer stuff, I am hoping to see something more clearly.

I hate to sound whiny and HATE to sound like a mess, I'm just stressed out! Let's hope the day turns around....

Fruit of PEACE

Philippians 4:8-9
"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”

• How does this verse tell us to pursue the God of peace?
• How do you think your thought life can lend to your peace?

I had to pass this one along today, I SO needed to read this! :o) Thanks again JustusSeven!

Why I do what I do . . .

Why do I clip coupons?

Why do I love to strategize my next deal?
Why do I menu plan?
Why do I budget shop?
Why do I LOVE CVS and Walgreens?

This is WHY . . .
What is this you ask? :o)

We have renters moving into our house in a couple weeks and I've made this little gift of goodies to help them set up their medicine cabinets and for under their sinks! Oh and best of all, it was ALL FREE!
(toothbrushes, toothpaste, Electrosol, Dawn, handsoap, bodywash, Excedrin, Tylenol, Face Cleanser, Astringent, Visine, Qtips, His and Her Razors, Shave Gel, Robitussin for adults and kids, bandaids, CVS brand Claritin, Alavert, Loofah, Infants Advil, Crest Prohealth Mouthwash, J&J baby Qtips, Buddy Bars)

This is why I love to do my CVSing and am now loving Walgreens more and more. Sure, I love to get free stuff and no longer pay out of pocket for my diapers, wipes, milk, bread, eggs, tp, paper towels, laundry detergent, dish soap, meds, and every toiletry and medicine that I need and on and on. If I can get it at one of those stores, it's pretty much not going to cost me any money, just takes a little time to strategize and figure out the scenarios.

Want to knock off an easy $30-50 off your grocer bill every week?

Want to be able to bless someone that may be having a tough week by bringing them some milk, bread, eggs, diapers, etc without paying for them?

Want to welcome a new neighbor to your neighborhood?

Want to make gift baskets for your girlfriends?(yes ladies, all of you at our church retreat will be getting beauty bags, don't worry!)

Well, it's really not hard!
Check out my ThrifteeMomee Blog over here daily for tips and tricks, or email me.

A Moment of Silence

I remember the day like it was yesterday as I sat on our papasan chair overwhelmed by morning sickness, every channel on the television was swarmed with the news. Like most Americans, I was afraid, afraid for all of those poor people in New York, afraid for my Uncle who worked on Wall Street, afraid for our country, afraid for the future of the little baby growing inside of me. It was a very, very devastating day. It was a day that will be remembered and studied in History Class by Adrianna and Christopher one day. Still to this day, I can't believe that it happened.

Fear.
Devastation.
Heartache.
Tragedy.
Disbelief.

One day I will share that with Adrianna, when the time is right. A five year old little girl doesn't need to burden her sweet little heart with those ideas, those stresses, not right now. We are given the freedom to live without fear, to feel safe and secure by living in this great country and I will do my part to make sure I protect my family in the same way our future president will protect us. I totally don't like discussing politics but days like today really make you think. And that's all I'm going to say.

God Bless America!

Trusting Him

Well, now that boxes are being packed, leases are being printed up, school is being switched over, cars are getting fixed at high costs (what else is new?!), dentists, doctors, car payments and on and on and on.....I have no choice but to take it one moment at a time and fully trust and give it to God. I know He will provide, He always has.

Trust

Trust

Trust

Faith

Faith

Faith

That's what I keep saying when my chest tightens, head gets warm and I begin to feel overwhelmed.

One thing at a time, it will all work out!

just had to vent.... :o)

Adrianna's "ABOUT ME" Poster

I am SO PROUD of Adrianna! How F-U-N! And yes, I DID help her. SHE chose the photos, put all the pictures and stickers on and did all the writing and choosing where she wanted everything to go. I printed up the titles and mounted them on cardstock, glued the 5 big pieces of cardstock to the Poster Board and that was it, really! She cut a piece of pizza out to put it on, drew her own pizza, cut it out and pasted it. She added the "C" for cookie and her picture of Sleeping Beauty after I "thought" we were through, oh and she found a "Hip Chick" in my scrapbooking stuff and added that too. :o) I had to stop her with the stickers because as usual, she started going a little nutty. It's never too much in her eyes! (I wonder where she gets that from, wink)

Fruit of LOVE

1 John 4:18 AMP
"There is no fear in love [dread does not exist], but full-grown (complete, perfect) love turns fear out of doors and expels every trace of terror! For fear brings with it the thought of punishment, and [so] he who is afraid has not reached the full maturity of love [is not yet grown into love's complete perfection]."

• What do you think it means to have “no fear in love”?
• What are some ways in our everyday life that we can strive to “reach the full maturity of love”?

Got this over here, I love this blog! Helps you "think"!

Sportin' her new Kicks!

What a STEAL . . . check out her new Converse we got at Goodwill yesterday....BRAND NEW for $2.99!!!!! Gotta LOVE it! I will have to take a closeup later, they are the CUTEST shades of pink and green. And, she dressed herself, well sorta! I got the great idea from Amanda using her old dresses as "shresses" and she wanted to wear the white capris with it AND had to pick out knee high socks, honestly....just too cute. Looks like I'm going to have to invest in funky knee socks for the fall for sure. Now, if we could only find some more of these converses in different colors, after all, a girl can't have too many shoes! LOL

Last night we had an awesome meeting over at my Pastor's house. It's so funny to refer to him as my Pastor, well not funny, but you know what I mean, he is my friend, his wife is one of my closest friends, our girls are "sisters". It really is amazing. I am a go getter and easily get pumped up and last night when Kyle started the meeting off with a list of all the wonderful accomplishments Resonate has made over the past 2 years and has grown from just the 2 families it started with in an incredible way which pumps me up to realize ALL THE MORE things we can do with all these amazing people and just how much better we can do them this year!

We talked alot about our vision and if people can see it, there is no way they wouldn't yearn to be a part of it. Our church is so different from alot of churches in the fact that we focus on the biggest thing that ALL our our hearts desire, community. We are deeply involved with our community and are already becoming more and more known for that. I do believe the 2nd most wonderful thing we are known of is for our love. There was an awesome statement made last night about how cool it is that there feels like there is this blur between things we do with the church and things we are doing with our friends. When we are hanging out and doing something, anything from a lunch or coffee date to poker or craft night, it's funny when we are asked "Is this a church thing or are you hanging out with friends" and you can answer "both.". You don't have to keep secret a "church life" and "outside of church life". This is why we jumped on board and this is why we've stuck it out. We were invested in by Kyle and Erika and it was real, it was genuine and we love them. They've changed our lives and I wake up everyday thinking about how I can do the same for someone else.

Showing people love, showing people you care, that is how we show others the love God has for them...and THAT is lifechanging! That realization is what fills that emptiness inside that you have, even if you didn't realize it was there. God and His love for us is what completes us as human beings and he uses US to show others that.

Words can not express....

Well, the new thing in this house is "Fashion Show" instead of the basic everyday princess dressup. She still dresses up in all her princess stuff DAILY but now likes to change it up a little. Gotta love the shoes Kylie picked out to wear! LOL

Okay, so what's been going on over here? Well, as many of you know already we are trying to rent out our house so we can move on up to a bigger, more spacious one since we've decided to grow our family AGAIN. :o) I've spent the past three weeks consumed with vacation, church (we now meet biweekly), Adrianna beginning school, packing so the house looks less cluttered for viewers, patching holes (believe me, we have a ton since I always change things around), being obsessed with Facebook, staying committed to my money saving blog, CVSing and saving over at Walgreens now too, and trying to get pregnant! Yes, when I do something it always seems that I like to do a bunch at one time. No wonder I never stop going.

Don't take any of the above as complaining, because I'm not at all. Things are actually going pretty awesome! I've struggled alot with some personal decisions over the past year, struggled with forgiveness, struggled with trust, battled with my emotions and my thoughts. But at the same time, I have also been overly blessed with friends and family and tons of great opportunities and lots of love shown to me and my family. Lots of my friendships have blossomed and that has been through time and work on both sides. Sometimes I think we feel like we are "owed" something and like to live in self pity and basque in our thoughts of "Nobody wants to be my friend", "They don't really like me", "This is just too much work", and so on. Not everybody is an initiator like myself and I do understand that, truly, but if you want something you need to chase after it, you need to work at it. And of course if the other person wants it too, then that work will be reciprocated. And accepting that not all friendships are going to be at the level you want them at is key.

With that said, don't whine, don't let your mind, thoughts or perception become a reality. That causes nothing but drama. Stay in reality and if you have questions, be direct. Otherwise you will be in an ugly place, and yes I've been there quite a few times. But I want to live in reality and have a husband who loves to help keep me there. :o)

Thank you to my girls, you know who you are, for loving me, supporting me and my family, and always putting in the work to help our friendships grow. I truly do love you!

Start of Week 2

Well, I'm about to wake my princess up to start Week 2. Back on track and lots to blog about, but I've spent too much time this morning of Facebook so it'll have to be later!

Have a great week!