11/24/10

2-14-11

12/8/10

Hello Blogland!

I'll start this post with a disclaimer...It's not my normal randomness of a post but rather just what's on my heart. Just thoughts that need to get out of my head and on to paper.

I was blessed to be raised in a home where my parents took us to church, taught us about God and lead lives that pointed us to Christ. I was brought up in the church and always had friends that were believers. Many of the people I attended church with are still friends and it's safe to say that they were a huge part of my faith community.

At the time in my life (up until high school) I doubt that I appreciated the roles that all those people took on and how they shaped me as a person. Once I reached college, I had a desire to find a similar community and was blessed like crazy to attend Beltway Baptist the entire time I was at ACU. I also had chapel daily at school and met with an friends who held me accountable in my life. It was a season where I took my faith as my own and grew a lot as a person.

Once I moved to Illinois, finding community was more difficult. I lived alone, went to a commuter school and was working and completing an internship. When Currey and I got married we were still longing for community. We became a part of a huge church and a small group that we enjoyed but we still felt like we were missing something. (To be fair, we lived 45 minutes from our church and small group and it's next to impossible to be in community with people when there is such a great physical distance.)

And then we found Life Church. We were hooked from the very first worship song. The people were warm and genuine. But the biggest draw was the honesty of everyone we met. People really wanted to do life with us. The good, the bad and the ugly. Even the really ugly. I didn't realize it immediately but we'd found community. That thing that I believe all believers long for. We got plugged into a small group and we began sharing life with those that were a part of our group. I could list all the reasons that our church is amazing and trust me I could easily come up with 100. But that's not the point. The point is we found community. A place were we are loved unconditionally, supported entirely in our gifts and talents and a place where we are accepted just as we are.

I'm in a season of appreciation that we have such a place but also a place of grieving for those that don't. I watch others, even believers, stumble blindly through life because they refuse to become vulnerable with those around them. Pride gets in the way of truly becoming a part of a community or sometimes its a fear of really being known by others. But that my friends is not what God intended. I believe that he longs for us to spend time with others, being encouraged and sharpened. I also believe that this is a greater support than just your family. Parents, siblings and spouses can all be sharpeners of our faith. But there is an even bigger community to belong to. Friends that become family and choose to love you in spite of yourself. So during this season of advent I urge you to find community. It's a sweet season of anticipating the birth of our savior. What better time to join with other believers to celebrate! May you joyously celebrate during this season of advent.

11/13/10

Every time I grocery shop these days, I'm reminded that I've not finished this series. Since I'm not great at blogging to begin with, a multi-post series might not have been the best idea.

I'm a very visual person. Seeing things makes them make sense to me. So here is a trip to the store.


Normally, we do not buy this much processed food. I promise! This trip to the store was before our churches Women's retreat. I was going to be gone overnight and asked Currey what he wanted for dinner while I was away. Frozen pizza was the answer. Also, I had a high value coupon to try the P.F.Chang frozen meals and they were on sale so I got that dinner for about $4. (On a side note, they aren't that bad. Not something I would regularly buy but in a pinch it was a decent, easy to prepare meal.)

There's a lot of candy because I was making Reese's cup cookies and taking M&M's for snacks.

Here's the run down. I spent $65.05 and saved $19.34. Yes...almost $20. This is the contents of this shopping trip.

Digiorno Pizza
Rice Krispies
7 Gerber Organic Baby Food packs
7 Earth's Best Baby Food jars
1 Package Huggies wipes
Peanuts
Balsamic Vinegar
Flour tortillas
Slice of cake
Roast
Deli Ham
Deli Salami
2 cans organic sweet potato puree
2 bags Reese's Cups
2 bags M&M's
2 bags cookie mix
P.F. Changs frozen meal for two
Toothpaste

Obviously, there are not very many meals in this run. A random trip just means that I have lots of odds and ends at the house that I need to use up.

To shop well, you need some flexibility. I was planning on making steaks but none were priced that well. But this roast was about to go bad so it was marked down $3 and I had a coupon for $1 off. So I got a $10 roast for $6. If you regularly price roasts, this is a great deal. Also, I needed balsamic vinegar. The bottle I got was being clearanced. It's regularly $6 but I got it for $2.

Target, especially, has great clearance deals. Often times, it's brands that they aren't carrying anymore. It's always worth checking out.

Those are my tips. I hope there is something that you find helpful about these tips. I'm really hoping to return to posting recipes very soon. We've gotten some great one recently. I can't wait to pass them on!

Sweet Peanut...

Our time with you continues to FLY. It's so hard to remember what life was like before you were here. You continue to bring us more joy than we ever imagined. Here's what you've been up to this month.

• You are still a very petite Peanut and only weigh 16 lbs. You are still in mostly 6 month clothes and you are wearing lots of Babylegs and a jacket with your summer dresses as most of the fall clothes we have for you are still too big.
• You are still eating like a champ but have become a little more picky about food. You still love all fruit except apples and will eat most veggies. You have made us VERY aware that you don't like spinach. :)
  
• You got really sick this month and it was not fun for any of us! You got to visit Dr. Corcoran several times and your sickness lingered for about a week. We hated seeing you not feel well but we took full advantage of your need to be snuggled.
  
• Lulu and Pops came for a visit. You were spoiled like crazy and got to enjoy lots of walks and countless hours of play time. Your wardrobe and toy selection were expanded as well.
• You still are not sure about crawling. You get up and rock consistently and will take about 3 "crawls" as we've started calling them but then you plop down on your belly and army crawl to where ever you want to go.
• You LOVE to talk. All the time. You sometimes seem annoyed when mommy or daddy "interrupt" you when you are "talking" to Moose or Gracie or just to the air. We can't wait until you have a vocabulary. We think that you will have LOTS to say!
  
• You are starting to notice older children and are fascinated by them. I love to watch you interact with other kids.
• You continue to have the sweetest disposition! You love people and smile at anyone and everyone that gives you any attention. You have started giggling a lot and love to be tickled under your chin.
• We are convinced that you will have teeth soon, although we've been saying that for months! EVERYTHING goes in your mouth. You chew on whatever you can get your hands on so we think any day now we will see a tooth.

Blythe,
Each day brings us more joy than the last! You continue to be a greater blessing than we could have ever imagined. You bring joy to the world around you and you continually brighten peoples day with your sweet smile. It's a blast to watch you grow and we love continuing to watch you explore your world! You are absolutely our Precious Peanut!
We love you like crazy!
Mom and Dad

10/30/10

So, is it really necessary that I start every post with an apology about how long it's been since the last one? If you read this regularly at all you know that I'm a sporadic writer. And I really don't know who reads this anyway. So maybe I'm apologizing to cyber space...which is ridiculous!

Moving on...This is the second installment of how to save money at the grocery store. We'll title it coupons. Now if you just rolled your eyes or are contemplating not reading further, please reconsider! I'm not a coupon maniac but by taking a little more time I regularly save $10-$25 on our groceries. Yes, in addition to what I'm already saving by shopping sales. This is how we are keeping our grocery budget in line.

I keep my coupons organized by month so I always look at what's about to expire. I shuffle through them all to see if there are coupons for anything I'm planing on buying that week. I also pull coupons for things that I saw on sale or for things that I might buy if we have excess grocery money after buying the necessities. I keep these coupons out and look through them at the store just to remind myself what I've got coupons for.

So where do these coupons come from? I periodically buy a Sunday paper. That is great for coupons for toiletries and household products. Also, I almost exclusively shop at Target for groceries. And their website has great coupons. I've also learned that most brands have coupons on their websites. Many brands even have email lists and periodically send high value coupons.

If you do decide to get a paper, cut the coupons that you think you will use. Then look at the circular for the store where you normally shop. Often times coupons are released the same week as a sale on the products featured. (Does that make sense? I hope you get what I'm trying to say.) You can save extra by using a coupon when the product is already on sale. So...I think that sums up couponing. I have an actual receipt and pictures from a recent trip to the store. I'm hoping that will help give you a better idea. Hope that helps! Happy Sunday!

As always, this post is late!

It seems as though time is flying by faster and faster! Each month brings more milestones and is more fun than the last. Blythe is still the happiest baby around. She is super smiley and loves to be with people. She continues to easily go to anyone and loves all the attention that she often receives. So here's what we've been up to this month:

• Blythe has started solids! I'll do a post about that soon. It's safe to say that she LOVES food! We have yet to give her something that she won't eat. She's not a fan of apples but even those she will tolerate.
• We had some issues about her not gaining enough weight. Our doctor recommended that we double all of her solid foods. Blythe has started eating up! She loves variety and at our next weight check we were so excited to hear that she is back on track with weight gain.
• We got to go to her first play this month as well. She got to see our friend Maddie in Charlotte's Web. Blythe sat still for the entire hour performance and watched the entire play. Like I said, she's a super easy baby!
• Another BIG event was that I left Blythe overnight for the first time. I went on the Women's Retreat with church. She and Currey had a blast together and I enjoyed myself immensely! But I loved getting home and loving on Blythe.
• Blythe is scooting like a champ! She will get up on her hands and knees and rock but then she flops down on her belly to army crawl. She is getting into everything!!!! It's so fun to watch her see something she wants and then scoot to it. She is one determined child.
• She has also gotten to start BSF with me. I love knowing that she is already learning truths about scripture, is listening to hymns geared to babies and kind women are praying over her each week. It's such a sweet blessing that we get to spend time together each week at Bible Study Fellowship.

Blythe,
It continues to bring us such joy to watch you learn and grow. Your smiles are endless and your giggles are contagious. You love your world! You love Moose, especially when he wants to give you kisses. You take out your paci every morning after breakfast so you can get his kisses! Neither you or Moose agree with Mommy and Daddy that this kisses are a bad idea. You are easy going and always go with the flow. You bring us more joy than we could have ever imagine. We love you like crazy!
Mommy and Daddy