Photo Challenge: Day 14

This photo challenge is to take time to enjoy the everyday moments around me. One of the highlights of our family's month is when Tim comes home for a few days. Things run pretty smooth while he's on the road for 2 to 3 weeks at a time, but when he's home, we change things up quite a bit.

We have a ton of errands to do when he first gets home so he can leave for his next trip fully stocked with things he needs to make his trip more successful. It means grocery store runs, Dollar stores, usually some kind of new tool to make his job easier, and a trip to American Discount Foods. They buy out other grocery stores' and restaurants' inventories and sell great stuff, brand names, high quality items - but at a fraction of the cost.

Anyway, after the initial errands are run, we stop having any type of schedule and just let Tim relax and play it by ear. We take time to eat a sit-down meal together as a family. We take time to watch movies on Netflix or from the library. We may go to the park, or walk around Ikea for ideas, or walk around some stores for exercise. We just let our days unfold while he's home, since it's only a day or two that he gets to rest and feel like he's been on vacation.

It's sad when he has to leave again, but this new schedule has made all 5 of us appreciate each other more. The kids have learned to follow my leadership, I've learned to give each of them individual attention where they're at, the kids miss Tim while he's gone and want to be around when he's home, and when Tim's here, he's actually "all here" with us. He's not stressing over not being at work like when he was in sales. He's calm, more understanding, less demanding, and enjoys doing things together as a family - as well as making time for just the two of us to be alone too.

We miss him, and someday he won't have to be gone so much, but for now, I think it's what we all needed to get where we are right now, and it's what's best for everyone. I appreciate Tim's sacrifices that he's made and continues to make to provide us with a wonderful home, in a great neighborhood, living where we want to live, with the resources we need. I pray that I never take it for granted.

Photo Challenge: Day 13

You know what I love about our new home? It's comfortable. I feel so relaxed when I'm at home. Maybe it's all the neutral colors? Maybe it's because everything is new and in great working order? Maybe because it's the nicest home we've had since Dover, NH back in 2003? I don't really know, but I love being at home.

I can nap or read on my bed and be at peace in my room. I can stay focused and clear-headed typing away at my kitchen table, I can feel God's peace as I read my bible in my chair on the back patio, I can relax completely sitting on the sofa watching a movie with one of the kids, I even feel contentment as I fold laundry in the new laundry room.

They say a man's home is his castle. I say for this woman, my home is my refuge, my place to ease into the mornings, rest and restore my soul during the night, and create great memories with my family and friends during the days.

Even Furlough has her favorite spots to relax and take a nap - like hiding in the dark corner of my room in the laundry basket.

Photo Challenge: Day 12

Reinventing or Rediscovering?

Logan is like many teens (and adults)...he's always in the process of reinventing himself - or is it just rediscovering?

Reinventing fits, because he tries new hairstyles, new clothes, with or without hats, new styles of music, new guitar techniques, new circle of friends, and more.

I also think rediscovering works because I've watched Logan through the years. He actually cycles through things. He's got habits, mannerisms, key phrases, interests, and more that he changes, but tends to return to a few years later.

Right now, he's broadening his guitar playing to include some classical, some jazzy-sounding riffs, and he's backing off some of the more modern metal-sounding songs. He's recently changed his hairstyle again to a more front-sweeping style instead of just having it hang straight down - I like it better now. He spent a long time wearing a hand-crocheted cap from his grandmother, but now he's wearing a fedora style hat wherever he goes. He always recycles his interests in 80s music and vintage games he played as a little boy.

I don't know how long it'll take him to find who he thinks he really is and feel comfortable with where he's at. Some people spend a lifetime trying to figure it out, but I think he's getting closer. I think once he does, he'll rediscover what I've known all along...who he is deep down is a wonderful, loving, caring, highly intelligent, engineering, helpful, hard-working, out-going, man of God who could change the world if he really wanted to.

Photo Challenge: Day 11

Finding the perfect pair of jeans fixes everything, doesn't it? We don't have the money right now to buy big name jeans, so we just keep an eye out for a pair that might fit better than sweatpants and don't cost a fortune.

Jordan found this pair while we were in the Goodwill at the corner. Where else can you find jeans in great shape (if you search carefully) for just $7.99?! (Or half that if it's got the right colored price tag). Jordan found a pair that made her legs look thinner and longer and when she put them on, something magical seemed to happen to her. She came out of her room with her head held high, feeling more confident, just KNOWING that she looked good in them. Now when she wants to look and feel her best, these are her go-to jeans.

Yes, the perfect pair of jeans fixes everything...well, almost. But that's close enough.

Photo Challenge: Day 10

Oh, how we love to swim! Maybe it's because we were born on the seacoast. Maybe it's the heat here. Either way, our family loves to swim. Especially me and my 2 youngest. We do miss having a pool right outside our front door like we did in the condo a few years ago, but there's so many pools here that finding a place to swim isn't a problem. We have several lakes that aren't too far away, public pools that are actually managed better and cleaned more often than those I grew up in back in Massachusetts. There's also lots of friends & neighbors here with pools that invite us over to swim now and then.

This particular pool is just about a mile and a half from our house. It's only $1 for Logan & Jordan and $2.75 for me - where else can you spend a day for just $4.75 of our entertainment budget?

Jordan likes to swim, Logan enjoys the 2 water slides there, and I love tanning - so this place, especially because it's only 5 minutes away, is perfect!

Photo Challenge: Day 9

There's always something new or different to see around here. Sometimes it's a plant or flower we've never seen. Other times, it's a home feature you'd never find in New England. Sometimes it's a bug or spider that you don't want to ever see again. On this particular day, the "strange scene of the day" was a guy up in a tree quite a few stories high, trimming off all the dead branches off a tree on the next street. You know how it is...you wake up to the sound of a chain saw, and something inside you has to go see where it's coming from. I'm not sure why, but it will stay in the forefront of my mind unless I make a point to see what's going on. Well, I found it - I'm glad Tim doesn't have to do THAT for a living!

Just popped in to say Hi

My camera's not working properly right now. I'm taking pictures but it's kind of a pain to download the new ones every day. I'll try to get all caught up by Monday night, that'll be Day 18.

Photo Challenge: Day 8

Ahh, the thermometer...

When we lived in Concho, it symbolized justification for me always being cold. Very often we had a hard time keeping our bedroom, kitchen, and living room above 60 degrees. Especially at night or first thing in the morning. Our main living area was at the back of the house where we went without the sun hitting our side of the walls for 6 months out of the year, so it never got a chance to warm up. We just spent half the year in the shade. I'd look at the thermometer to prove to myself I'm not crazy about being SO cold all the time.

Now in the Valley, it's a symbol of happiness for me. I don't care that I was born in New England where it's often very cold. My body "belongs" in the heat. I look at the thermometer when it says 100, or 108, or even 110 degrees - and it makes me happy. The heat really doesn't bother me. Thankfully, I don't have to work outside in it like so many people do, and for that, I'm truly appreciative. But there's something about the way my body feels when the heat hits my joints. The pain I experienced in the cold mountains is gone. My joints feel warm and pain-free here in the Valley of the Sun, even in spite of having rheumatoid arthritis in my neck and right hand.

Seeing so much red in that thermometer is a quick reminder to be thankful for days without pain, shivering, gloominess, and sadness. And this next winter, my body will be very thankful that we live here.

Photo Challenge: Day 7

Computers - What would our life be without them?

I've recently gotten to ask myself that very question. In November, our home computer died. Fortunately we could go to the library a mile from the house and use theirs for an hour at a time, but how different our lives have become without them. I know people use them for all kinds of things, but without ours, here's how our life was different:

1. I didn't have access to Google. I love information, reading, research, and being able to look up locations, recipes, and answers to my questions as they come up. I've become rather spoiled when it comes to getting answers right away.

2. No entertainment. We lived where cable didn't exist, and we didn't have money for satellite TV (not that we watch enough to warrant the cost anyway), but when our computer died, we lost ALL forms of entertainment. We lost browsing through websites like Pinterest.com, we lost communicating with our Facebook friends & family, we lost Netflix so we had hardly any movies we haven't already seen 100 times, and we lost the chance to play the games we used to fill our days while living in such a rural place with few attractions.

3. We lost the ability to Skype with my sister - something we rarely get the chance to do with her work & nursing school schedule plus a 2 to 3 hour time zone difference.

4. I lost the ability to blog. Sometimes I just HAVE to write. It has to come out through my fingers typing or I feel like I'll go crazy. Losing that was no fun. I spent too many hours losing sleep with no outlet to blog.

5. I couldn't print out photos to scrapbook. I love to scrapbook, and it helps me get out my creative urges - but without a computer to edit & print the pictures I had taken, I was a little wound up.

I didn't grow up with computers like my kids did. In fact, I think I was 30 when we got our first one and I barely knew what to do with it. In high school, it was so new that I had "keyboarding" the year after I took typing on an electric typewriter! We learned to cut & paste, edit & delete paragraphs, and not much else. Everything was still DOS back then, no such thing as Windows.

Fast forward to Christmas. I got a laptop from Tim for my gift. It was more expensive than anything we'd ever gotten each other before, but our desktop was barely alive and was dying any minute, holding on by just a temporary attempt to fix the problems. We got it to work long enough to transfer most of the stuff out we wanted - good thing, too - because it died again about 3 days after moving here in May. Had I not gotten my laptop, our home wouldn't have a computer right now. That makes it very hard to grow an internet-based business.

I'm sorry that we've become so dependent (and expectant) on our computers, but I'm also thankful that we have one that works.

What would you do without yours?

Photo Challenge: Day 6

A neighborhood, at last!

The last 2 years were spent living in a very rural area. It had many advantages and a lot of good things came from it, but for 3 teenagers, there wasn't much to do - especially for our "middle child" who needs new things, people to see, stuff to do, and a new adventure all the time. Boredom would have led him into trouble.

Before that, we were in a very congested condo complex in the city. Although there were lots of people and cars (and stray cats), it wasn't what I'd call a neighborhood. To me, that word conjures up images of houses, green lawns, private driveways, neighbors who spend time together on the weekends, kids that grow up together. We had that back in NH for 2 1/2 years before we decided to move permanently to Arizona. After 7 years in that complex and the 2 years in the mountains, we're finally in a neighborhood again.

We're still pretty new here, so most of our interaction with our neighbors is just waving for now, but we did get to talk to one family here in our cul-de-sac that were very friendly. I'd like to get to know them a little better. There's a few teens just a few doors down, but I don't think our kids have met them yet. It's summer here, and in the Phoenix area, it's hot. People leave for vacations and the teens try to get summer jobs, so I think we'll see more of our neighbors when the fall comes. Hopefully by winter, we'll be enjoying the beautiful weather outdoors with them.

To me, a neighborhood has a community feel to it, a sense of belonging, and we feel at-home here already. The palm trees, nearby park, birds of every type, quiet streets - it's a great place to live. Almost all the streets around us are cul-de-sacs and dead-end roads. That keeps us a little more protected from speeding cars, strangers that don't belong, and excessive road noise. I don't know how long we'll stay here, or if we'll end up buying a place in a new neighborhood in a year or two, hopefully if we do, it'll be our last move for a long time. But either way, we're thankful and happy to be in Carriage Lane, our neighborhood, our home.

Photo Challenge: Day 5

My quiet, early morning spot - I've had one for about 10 years now. It's been a chair on the patio, on back porch, and now on our new patio. There's something about those mornings when I can't sleep, and I wake up irritated or still tired but I can't get to sleep. I need to get re-centered. I take my bible, head outdoors, and spend about 15 to 30 minutes out there rebooting my day to start it right.

There's something very calming about reading God's Word in the cool morning air, seeing the hues of early morning sun on the treetops (especially on the palm trees, it's a pretty shade of golden pink), hearing the birds just waking up, and smelling the fresh flowers and grass. Even when we lived in a mostly cement, busy condo complex, watching the sky turn colors listening to the birds, it was enough to calm my spirit.

In those times, I've grown, learned, understood, appreciated, planned for, and looked forward to all the good in my world. In a world that's so fast-paced, time speeding by faster as the years go by, it's nice to have a small piece of space where it all stands still and waits for me to re-center my focus, my head, my heart, and my spirit - before starting the next day in this short breath we call life.

Photo Challenge: Day 4

I'd love to say this is about my son, but it's not. It's a given that my kids are a part of my everyday life...this is really about the Mexican blanket in the photo. No, I'm not kidding. Really. That particular blanket is a big part of my world. Even in the hot weather - but especially in the cold weather.

I found that Mexican blanket while shopping at Old Town Scottsdale a few years ago. There was a shop where they had these blankets for just $5! Best $5 item I ever bought. This blanket has been with me like a little kid's security blanket. It was there when I was watched movies snuggling with my husband or kids, there when I watched the kids' soccer and football games, there when I napped in the car on long drives with the family, and there when a nap could fix everything. The most amazing thing about that blanket is it magically senses what I need. No, not really, but hear me out. When I was in the mountains freezing in the winter with multiple layers of clothing, mittens, and shoes - I could get warm under that blanket. In the summer when I needed to rest, it would make me feel cozy but not too hot. And for some reason, every time I cover up with it lying down, I fall asleep almost instantly and awake refreshed.

Do you have that one item that acts like your "Linus Blanket"?

Photo Challenge: Day 3

Furlough - our cat

If I'm going to photograph our life, I can't really neglect putting in our cat. We're actually "dog" people, but no one left a dog out to die all those years ago, so we have a cat. Let me explain briefly. We bought our first real house, it was a duplex in NH. It was still very cold that fall. One day, I heard a strange scratching sound on the cellar door. I opened it, and in walked this cat. She must've found her way in through a broken basement window to keep warm. I put her outside after she walked around a bit, and she would repeat this for the next few days. The nights she didn't sneak into the cellar, she would spend them on our back porch meowing until you wished she'd lose her voice. She couldn't really be chased off, she'd just come back. We didn't feed her, but she begged anyway. I found out from the upstairs tenant that she was one of a neighbor's litter from St. Patrick's Day. She was only about 8 months old now, looked half-starved, and the family had moved and just left her behind. I hadn't seen any other cats that were from that litter, just her. When we let her in, she let the kids pet her, play with her, and since they were only 1, 3 and 5 - they were pretty rough sometimes, by accident. She never hissed, scratched them, or tried to bite them. She never hid under the furniture. She always sat with one of us, and was never any trouble, so Tim finally said, "Since she's good with the kids, why don't we just go ahead and keep her." I asked Adam what we should name her. Being only 5, I'm not sure where he came up with it, but he immediately said, "Furlough". I asked why and he told me it was because she was furry and low to the ground. 'Nuff Said.

Now it's time to move a few months later, and we didn't know that she was pregnant until just a few weeks before, she had been so starving we just figured she was "filling out". I think she had her kittens about a week before the move, maybe it was just a few days. We had Tim's grandmother watch her & her 3 kittens during the move, then brought her home. The kittens were given away but we kept her, had her fixed, but there was one drawback. The vet told us she was only about a year old, very young to have fixed, but we told him she'd already had kittens. To do this, he said because of her age, he'd have to cut the muscle that holds up her stomach for some reason, so she'd always look like her stomach was either dragging, or she'd look bigger than she really is under all the fur. I wasn't taking her bathing suit shopping, why would I care if she looked fat?

Over the years, almost everyone who's ever come to our house has either said, "Wow, you have a fat cat!" or "you're cat's pregnant?!". Ok, so the vet was right. You could feel that her hanging stomach was just empty skin, but unless you picked her up, yeah, she looked fatter than she was.

Today we still have her. It's odd now that she's older than Jordan. We never really gave it much thought until a few years ago. We've had her for 13 years this year. She still doesn't bite, or scratch people, or hiss, or hide. She's the quiet member of the family. I've never understood how people think of cats as members of the family, but she's always been more like a small dog. She sits on command, does tricks for her treats, chases off other animals from the property, licks Jordan's face when she gets up in the morning, and loves people.

We had a big realization how important she is to all of us when we almost lost her twice living in the mountains. The first time was after we first moved there. She got bit by a wind scorpion/sun spider (it's a spider that resembles a scorpion) in her water dish. It left a big, swollen lump on her neck, she couldn't eat for a week, and kept hiding under the woodpile. We though it was going to explode on her neck and she was hiding because she felt she was going to die and wanted to be alone. Well, we fed her Monavie juice from an eyedropper since she couldn't swallow much, and forced her to drink water, and maybe that helped. The mass did explode, she had almost no voice on the inside and was bleeding on the outside off and on for days. But she pulled through. That's when I realized how much we still wanted her around. She'd become Jordan's best friend.

The other time was just before this move away from the mountains. She couldn't keep anything down for days. We can only assume she ate something bad - maybe a mouse that had eaten d-con? or a bird that died of something other than old age? Not sure. We didn't think she'd pull through that - but again, we gave her Monavie for a few days on her food. She didn't keep much down, but she pulled through once we moved here and is doing just fine now.

She's old now, doesn't play much, has trouble jumping up or down from beds & the sofa, but she's still very loving to people. She licks you as you pat her - like a puppy.

I couldn't blog or photograph our life without including Furlough.

Photo Challenge: Day 2

Day 2: At the park on the next street over we've been watching both the turtles and the ducks, especially the baby ones. I got this photo because it seemed to carry the heading "But You're So Different". Every day we encounter people that are so different from us. Maybe they look different, or act culturally different, or have an opposite personality from us, or they dress different, or talk different, (you get the idea). We all have pre-conceived notions about those that are different, but do we ever stop and think how we appear to them? Maybe we seem too aggressive, or too loud, or too people-pleasing, or too old-fashioned, or too self-absorbed, etc. If we realize that WE'RE different to most people, maybe we can make a conscious effort to be more friendly, or to help out someone in need, or maybe just pass on a smile to someone who's hurting. Be encouraging to someone who needs it. You never know who's life you may touch for the better.

Photo Challenge: Day 1

Day 1: The tropical hibiscus flower that opened on the plant in my back yard. We've actually gotten about 5 of them since we moved here. They are so short lived. They bud with promise on one day, open fully by the next morning, then by the next day, they're purple and shriveled and fall off the plant. What a glimpse into life. We're here such a short time, too. It flies by before we know it. We have such a short window of time where we can bloom and be vibrant, then it's over. What will YOU do to be vibrant and come alive during your time here on earth? Don't waste it. Shine now while you can. Bring happiness to those around you and you'll be remembered fondly long after you're gone.

Reflecting on 20 years of marriage

Tim & I just celebrated being married 20 years. I spent a lot of the day reflecting on our struggles and our triumphs during that time. I thought of the lowest of lows, and the highest of highs. We've faced everything together and God has kept us protected and blessed just enough to keep us together and dependent on Him. Here's some of our high points in our marriage (for me, anyway):

Our wedding - the day was perfect, not too hot, not too cold, everything went smoothly.
Living in AZ the 1st time - our first 6 months we learned to live together w/o anyone around to tell us what to do.
Having a friend announce the coming of our first born in Canada during a function, from stage, surprising the new would-be grandparents.
The birth of our children - each was unique, Tim was wonderful in the delivery room.
Our first home - it was so inexpensive, the bank made us take out a personal loan rather than a mortgage.
Our first duplex - we lived free since the renters upstairs covered the cost of the mortgage.
Camping at Salisbury Beach, MA, watching the sun rise over the ocean and toasting marshmallows by campfire at night.
Moving to AZ the 2nd time w/our kids - it was like coming "home"
Tim breaking through some lifelong struggles to be free forever.
Utah trip through Zion national park - so beautiful!
Taking the stage together as we advanced in our business, and winning a free suite as the top winners of a contest in Las Vegas.
Tim changing careers to be a flatbed over the road driver. We miss him but it's the start of getting back on our feet, better than before.
Returning to the Valley after 2 years of living in the cold, snowy, too-windy climate of the high elevation, high desert area where everything hurt.
Starting our new adventure together, better than ever, looking forward to another 20+ years together.

Photo Challenge: 30 pictures in 30 days - June 2012

Hi Everyone! I've been thinking...the best way to start scrapbooking again is to make sure I have enough photos. To do that, I'm going to throw something out there. For the month of June, I'm going to take 30 pictures in 30 days. They'll be pictures that depict things in my world. Some may be big like Father's Day, or a special person's birthday. Other pictures will be my world around me...flowers, lizards, palm trees, the neighborhood park, elements of my new home that I love, etc.

If you've hit a rut in picture taking, this may be a good way to get you going again. You could take the challenge too. Maybe that's too aggressive for your schedule? Then agree to take 3 to 5 pictures on the weekends, or something like that.

What pictures should I capture? Any ideas?

Mother's Day Reflections

(Note: Sorry it reads like a big paragraph. I wrote it as bullet points and with spaces for quick reading, but the blog didn't format it the same way.) This Mother's Day is pulling out a whole range of emotions. Maybe it's because my kids are almost all grown, maybe because Tim's been gone for 3 weeks. Maybe because my mother and grandmother are thousands of miles away. Here's some random thoughts, good and bad, that I've been experiencing this week in regards to Mother's Day: The bad: - I wish he'd hurry up and move out, his selfishness is really bothering the other two. - Why is she so whiney! She's going into high school and still acts like she's 10. - What makes him think he knows everything when he's never attended public school, had a job, lived on his own, had a real relationship, or drove a car by himself yet? - It's so hard being a single parent while Tim's gone for so long - it was supposed to be 2 weeks and it'll actually be almost 4 full weeks! - I feel guilty when I know I'm doing or saying the right thing when disciplining my kids. The good: - I'm so proud of him. He's alcohol, smoke, and drug-free as a young man. He makes good decisions and recognizes the mistakes his peers are making. - I know she's almost in high school, but to see her swinging at the park makes me wish she were little all over again. - It's a good thing he's so smart and handy with Tim gone so much. I don't worry about what I'll do if the car breaks down, or I need computer help. - With Tim gone, it gives me a chance to establish a good routine for our family, and begin some new good habits before he gets back. - Stepping back and seeing how great my kids are, I'm glad I was more strict on them than they said their friends' parents have been. It's been a roller coaster of emotion. Mostly because we're all experiencing this move and changes differently. Part of us wants things to go back to how good they were before we moved from here 2 years ago. Part of us is excited to start a new life, with a new circle of friends, and happy that the bad things of the past are just that - in the past. So this Mother's Day, I have many mixed emotions going on, but I know one thing...I have great kids, it's not about flowers, candy, cards or gifts. It's about the relationships I have with each of my children. They're all unique, have their own strengths and weaknesses, are both so alike and so different from me in many ways, and no matter how much time I've spent with them, it still feels like it went too fast. To have one more day with Adam when he was about 5, one more with Logan when he was 3, and one more with Jordan when she was 2...those days are gone, I know, but at least I was there for them, and have great memories (and tons of scrapbooked pages) of those times. I am blessed. Happy Mother's Day.

It's all new and different...

Sometimes we have the opportunity to go back to where we came from, whether it's a town we lived in, a church or group we belonged to, a sport or activity we used to participate in, etc. Often we return expecting things to be like they used to be, but I've learned over the years, that rarely happens. Recently we moved back to the city where we lived 2 years ago. We even got to re-join the church where we'd been members for 7 years before we left. But I had no illusions that things would be the same as they were when we left. In fact, things changed so much just in the 6 months before we left that there's no way it could be "how it was". This economy has really changed the face of our country, even in the higher-end neighborhoods. Friends who were living above the normal standard have lost their homes, stay-at-home wives and moms have had to go to work, people have left the area to live less expensively, and with gas prices rising to almost $4 a gallon for so long, many have had to leave our church and groups because it became "just too far" of a commute. Now our family will be starting over in the city we came from, but it'll be all new. We did return to our church, even though it's 22 miles away. We'll cut expenses somewhere else to afford the 2 trips a week on Sundays and Tuesday morning (for my Ladies' Bible Study). We're in a new area of town, a much better neighborhood, but that means we'll need to make all new friends here. Also, the names on the stores are the same, but they're at different locations now so we'll meet new people that work there too. The church has lots of new faces (and unfortunately, many of the familiar ones are gone). The organizations we belonged to and places we used to frequent aren't going to be the same this time around. The kids are older. Adam's graduated (once he finishes Physics). Logan's 16, has his license, and Jordan's going into high school. I'm not sure the same field trips and homeschool groups would work now. We'll be finding new things we like to do, both individually and as a family. Even our household dynamic has changed. Adam's rarely home to eat dinner with us, both boys are looking for jobs, and Tim's on the road 2 weeks at a time with just 3 days off in-between. It's a new adventure but in familiar surroundings. It's a bit strange, I see the kids struggling to make things like they were, but they can't. Life changes, it goes on while we're doing other things. Two years has changed so much - and I think, so have we. I don't know exactly what's in store for us, but I know we're better prepared and have learned to appreciate what we have a lot more. It's a new adventure for sure. I'm looking forward to seeing what God's got in store for us with the new lessons we've learned.

The New Place is getting even better!!!

So here's a picture of our new place, but wait! Just when I couldn't think it could be any better, it does!

I got a call and a few messages from my friend who owns the house. Here's the gist of what we were told:

1. Since her husband and his regular contractors are all available to work for the next few weeks, they're going to totally remodel/renovate the home!

2. The master bath was pretty sad, so that's getting a total remodel.

3. The kitchen is in need of updating so it's all been ripped out, the ceilings raised, there'll be new, taller cabinets, new countertops, probably an L-shaped kitchen installed instead of the U-shape it was, and possibly even an island added!

4. Because the flooring is all mismatched and some looks bad from where carpets were ripped up, new tile is going in and all the cement floors (which we've always wanted) will stay, but be painted.

5. The funky island colors will all be painted a nice, neutral beige kind of color.

6. As if that's not enough - they even decided to bring in a landscaping company to clean the yard up before we get there.

7. Best news yet? - It's all scheduled to be completed, ready for us to move in, the Friday before the week we've rented our moving truck!

I'm just so grateful, thankful, and appreciative of such blessings. I consider it an honor to be trusted to care for their (now like-new) home for the next year or so. After that, we're hoping to buy and they're hoping to rent it for what it's worth, which will be so much more with all the work they're doing. I am truly blessed by God, through wonderful friends.

We found a home! An even BETTER home!

Normally, I keep my faith opinions & comments on my other blog, but I can't share this story without giving God full credit, so just bear with me, it's a great story!
I planned on checking out the apartment from my last post at 1 o'clock Tues. afternoon. Being in a hotel about an hour away, my plans were to leave the hotel no earlier than noontime, then run a few errands on the other side of town. That morning I couldn't stay put. I felt like I just had to get out of the hotel and head over towards the apartments. Maybe I'd stop into a few of the places on my list before the appointment instead of after? Anyway, I had to go.

That morning, my Facebook post was simple. Just that I was going to look at a place, wish me luck. I get a call from a friend I haven't talked to in 2 years. She's rarely on FB these days, but happen to be home recovering from surgery and was on there, and happened to see my post. She let me know she had a place for rent (since when did her family own rentals?) and it was becoming available in a matter of days. She called me during my drive but for some reason, I didn't hear my phone ring at that time. Instead, something made me take out my phone at a red light and see that I had a call from about 15 minutes earlier.

I called her and she mentioned a house, not a second floor, 1000 sf apartment, but a house for rent. I asked her where it was and she said it was off THE VERY STREET I WAS DRIVING BY!!! I couldn't missed her call. I could've called her back earlier or later. But the timing was absolutely perfect - that's how I know it had to be God's timing & plan and not my own. I've learned to pay attention to these things over the years.

Anyway, she and her husband were kind enough to allow us to move in for what we were going to pay for the apartment, which has to be anywhere from $200 - $600 below market value, depending on if they did work on it or not. In exchange, we'd move in with the understanding that it's "as is" and has some minor cosmetic issues - like funky paint colors, a few rugs that were removed but cement was never finished or painted, etc.

The house is perfect for us! It's only 2 to 3 blocks from everything and everywhere we need to be. It's got over 1600 sf. The Master has it's own bathroom, there's a good sized yard for entertaining and some beginning gardening space. It's at the end of a cul de sac. What more could we ask for?

Here's the best part - had I gone into the apartment interview without knowing about the house, I would've been devastated. It was the last place we could afford without being 30 miles from church in a very bad west-side neighborhood. I went in and within 5 minutes, they'd told me they had no 3 bedrooms in their mile-long complex and there was already a waiting list for them. We wouldn't have been able to move for another 6 to 12 months, if there at all. I would've spent the rest of the week compromising our family's safety and taking a place we hated, that was way too small, miserable. Instead, God gave me the confidence that it would all work out with the house, so when she said they had no vacancies, I smiled, got up, and left thinking, "it's okay because I don't want to live here anymore."

Life can be so good.

Finding a home

Here I am, bright and early on a Monday morning, ready to look for a new home for our family this week. Granted, the reason I'm up early is because I'm in the lobby of the hotel that messed up and I'm here waiting for their next available room to open up.

Anyway, on to better things...there's a place we hope to qualify for - it's a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment, in a complex that a lot nicer than where we used to be. It's got lots of grass, palm trees, 4 pools (2 heated), basketball courts, street hockey rinks, playgrounds, free bikes to borrow from the office, a fitness center, a beautiful clubhouse, and it's in a very convenient location for everything we could ever need.

So why am I still in the process of "finding" a home? Because we're not sure we'll qualify yet. My husband has just switched careers, he's in orientation & training for the next 3 1/2 weeks - then he'll be a solo truck driver. The pay is promising to be enough to qualify, but we had to declare bankruptcy and lost our home in a foreclosure 2 years ago. We're not sure if that will disqualify us or not. We also don't know if they'll need months of paystubs first, or accept the first few to see what a typical workweek pays.

Should we not get into this place, we have no real backup. That's why I'm here. By the time I leave in a few days, I'll know better where we stand, if I have to look for a new place or not, and I should have a better idea of when we should be able to plan our move.

We can also house-sit for friends here in mid-June for about a month at no cost - so if our move is delayed longer than we originally planned, that'll be okay because we'll still have a mini vacation to break up the tension.

Wish me luck this week!

Why I like the middle of the night...

5 Things I like about the middle of the night (when Tim's away):

1. I can get up, turn on my laptop, and have time to myself on the internet without interruptions. When Tim's home, I'd never dream of disturbing his sleep with the clicking away of the keyboard, but when I'm alone, every click sounds like a step forward, or an accomplishment. I'm actually getting things done without distractions.

2. The stars. I know in a few months I'll be moved back to the city (yeah!) and I won't be able to see anything but the brightest stars because of the light pollution, but you know what? In the two years we've lived here, it's almost always too cold or too windy to be out at night enjoying them anyway. With that said, there have been a few nights that I woke up between 2 and about 4 a.m. and was absolutely blown away at the number of stars in the sky here. I never gave any thought to the Old Testament when God tells Abraham that he'll have as many descendants as there are stars...until being out here. I saw literally millions of stars and though, "Wow. Seeing a sky like this, Abraham must've been totally blown away by that statement!"

3. The silence. I've never been big on noise. Maybe it's because I grew up in a loud house, with a loud family, and loud eventually led to an argument, then a fight. I also grew up as one of the older cousins and the oldest of my siblings, so I grew up treasuring peace and quiet. My happiest moments (before being married and having kids) were times when I was alone to enjoy the beach, a flower, a sunset, etc.

4. My head has a chance to clear up and "reboot". During the day, my head is constantly buzzing with things to do, things to plan, kids' demands, schedules, information to teach, and about a hundred other things. In the middle of the night, my head is clearer, fewer distractions, I can think out a complete thought, examine different possibilities, see new perspectives, and appreciate all I have to be thankful for.

5. Going back to sleep. I know that sounds strange, but there's something very satisfying knowing I'm going back to sleep with a problem solved, or after a relaxing time for just me, or with a song in my head, or even a prayer on my heart. It's a very peaceful, restful sleep once I fall back asleep. I wake up refreshed and relaxed and can ease into my day without things undone from the day before hanging over me. Those are the best mornings.

Zumba - the best addiction I've ever had!

I've had different addictions in the past, things I woke up thinking about, thought about all day, and obsessed over before bed - everything from drinking in my early 20s, to sugar in my 30s, to organics & coupons in the last few years - but this is the best one yet! Zumba Fitness! If you aren't familiar with Zumba, it's a dance & fitness program based on rhythms from all around the world (mostly Latino), combined with the mechanics of exercise. What you get is a fun, confidence-building, super-fat-burning workout that makes you want to do it again and again.

I started doing Zumba because I know it's huge all over the U.S., people love it, and those who I know that are involved have some of the healthiest, most sculpted body images, without crazy dieting, situps & pushups, nor heavy weight lifting. Not having the money right now to go out and buy a program, I started in my room with just my laptop and YouTube videos. I searched the basic and how-to videos to get started. I never felt so "white" and uncoordinated in all my life. I could sort of figure out what they were instructing me to do until they took it "to tempo". I watched in amazement thinking, "I don't think I'll ever be able to move as fast as they do, but if I do it half as quick, I'll still burn calories, right?"

After the first few times, I got the hang of it. I was moving more like they were, getting in 7 steps to their 8, quite an accomplishment for me. I was still awkward, but at least I was doing it, not hating it, and was starting to have fun.

After a couple of weeks, I was moving as fast as they were for most of it. I wasn't remembering to "keep my abs tight" through the whole workout, but my stalled weight loss was beginning to drop again. I was starting to believe I may have found something special in Zumba for me.

Now, it's been about a month since I started, but thanks to Tim's unusual schedule of CDL school 200 miles away, and working 3rd shift when he's home, I have our room to myself every single night to work on getting better (in private). Last night was the 12th night in a row and it's become an obsession...no, an addiction!

I wake up with the music in my head. Every time I walk or turn to do something in the house, I'm thinking about where my hips are, and if my core & abs are engaged. I keep moving my workout earlier and earlier by a few minutes because I can't wait to do it. I'm feeling that I'm using the right muscles as I work out. The steps are getting to where I don't have to think about it. I'm adding my own "flavor" as they call it in the videos. I'm dropping weight quickly. I'm happier, and eating less (since eating was very emotional for most of my life). I'm losing inches. I even have a renewed desire to learn to speak Spanish more than ever before.

The best part of Zumba for me is the mind transformation. I had so many doubts in the beginning, but now what I say in my head has changed. I'm twice as old as those on the video, doing this at 6300 feet elevation, and overweight to start - but I can do this! I really CAN move my body as fast as they do. My legs DO move as quick as theirs. I WILL hit every weight goal I set because I'm determined to keep at it.

I'm down 18 lbs in 60 days and have lost a few inches already! (Wish I measured those when I first got started). I'm healthy, happy, and love doing Zumba. Check out some of their online information and get started.

Hopefully, for my birthday, I'll get the first 4 DVD set until I can buy the newer 7 DVD program. Have fun!

10 Things I love about "the Valley of the Sun"

1. Palm trees (and other Phoenix area flowers)

I grew up in a family where everyone had gardens, fruit trees, and lots of flowers. I thought I knew more flowers than anyone else my age growing up, but when I moved to AZ in 2003, I saw hundreds of flowers & plants I'd never seen before. The colors, shapes, and oh, the palm trees I saw! I love lying by the pool on a hot day with a gently breeze blowing through the palm leaves making that distinct, crisp sound. There's nothing more soothing to me than watching palm trees blowing gently in the breeze.

2. Warm winters

After spending a lifetime hating the cold, days of rain, gray skies, and long, snowy winters of freezing temperatures - we finally moved to AZ. I enjoyed 7 years of warm winters. Almost 2 years ago, we were forced to live in the high desert, at high elevation, where it's cold and snowy and the winters are very long. I never realized how bad rheumatoid arthritis could hurt until I moved here. Now, I get to spend the next 4 winters in the Phoenix area again where it's warm. I know my time is limited there, so I'm going to take advantage of every single day there, appreciating it and being "one with my environment" until the very last day we're there. After that, we'll have to move back to the elevation & mountains & snowy, cold winters - but we'll at least be closer to town.

3. Swimming almost year-round

Last year for spring break we spent a week in the Valley in mid-March. My happiest memory was stepping into the pool and immediately being able to get right in because the water was so warm (and yes, it was unheated). Swimming from March until October/November is definitely something we miss.

4. Stores!

I'm not a shopper, really, but I know how to save money given the resources available. I've done a good job this year learning how to save as much as possible with only a handful of possible stores to shop from. I really look forward to using those skills when I have so many choices, Goodwill thrift stores, discount outlets, etc. I think I can double our standard of living for half what I'm spending now to live broke.

5. FRUIT

Up here, it's so cold and windy that no one can really grow fruit. The produce selection in the store is mainly apples, oranges & bananas. I can't wait to shop where local, organic fruits can be grown year-round. I miss the variety of tropical fruits available in Valley. It's no fun eating frozen fruit almost exclusively just to get a variety.

6. Organic vegetables

There's lots of people with gardens up here, but you find that if someone gives you some of what they've grown, it's usually the same thing you've got from your own garden - and you have more than you know what to do with already. Seriously, after you can the first 150 jars of pickles, how many more do you really need? I'm looking forward to the variety of INEXPENSIVE organic veggies I can buy for cheap money at places like Sprouts market.

7. Mountain Valley Church

I've gone to several churches in my lifetime, but MVC will always be "home" to me. When I come to the city, and walk through their front doors, I feel like I just walked through Grandma's house or something. I feel safe, loved, protected, and it's where people know the real me. That's the church where I truly had life-changing experiences with the one and only Holy God. It's where I learned to make my faith personal, and the center of everything I do. It's also home to my dearest and most-loved friends who have been through everything with me and my family.

8. My best friends

People are lucky to have 1 or 2 really close friends that you can trust, open up to, spend time with and "do life right" with. At MVC, I found dozens and dozens of friends for life. I can't wait to return to them. They've helped me learn, grow, be strong, let out a good cry, pray with and for our family, and so much more. I've missed them terribly and can't wait to come "home".

9. Activities for the kids

The Concho brochure (metaphorically) didn't tell the truth. I was told before moving here that it would be great: short winters, high temperatures in the 50s & 60s even in winter, sun almost every day, lots of space, pretty views, great wildlife all around, clean water, and friendly people. What I found was quite the opposite: long winters where the sun never hits the back of the house for 6 months a year, many days where the highs are in the 30s, lots of gray skies, so much space that you can't find friends for the kids because nothing is walking distance, lots of views...of dead, brown and yellow waist-high weeds all around and dead trees at least half the year, the wildlife here is snakes, huge beetles, rats & mice, and yes, there's deer or antelope but that's maybe 2 or 3 times a year you see that. Elk? sure, we have those, mostly when they come out near the road when you're driving at night for 30 miles to get home from town! And as for friendly people...most are retired or older, and the ONLY thing they talk about is the end of the world and how much they hate the city, and it's residents, and it's every man for himself when everything goes crazy. No one told us we were moving to the Meth capital and Polygamist capitol of the state! They left that out. When we move, our kids will have everything from sports, to art, to cultural events, to free events, classes for homeschoolers, lots of groups to join, church activities to do, and so much more. I can't count down the day fast enough.

10. Being near the airport & attractions

When we lived in the city, we were 7 minutes from the Southwest terminal. We had more friends & relatives visit from the east coast than I ever imagined we would. I even had visits from family I hadn't seen in 15 years! Once we moved to the middle of nowhere, not one friend or family member was willing to fly in to Phoenix, drive the 4 hours to here, just to sit at the house with nowhere to go and nothing to do. We don't even have television here. I've already been told some will come back when we're back in the city again.

So yeah, there's a lot of up-sides to moving back. I'll miss Tim's parents being close by, but other than that, I won't miss Concho one bit. We've met some wonderful, friendly people at our church in Show Low, and I'll stay in touch with them until we return in 4 years - but again, I won't miss anything else up here.

I'm so excited to move!

February Goals

Here's my list of 5 goals for February:

1. I've lost 14.9 pounds so far, I'm hoping to hit the 20 pound (loss) goal by the end of the month.

2. I'm hoping to find great deals on stuff for the boys' birthdays. Logan's was pretty inexpensive for what we got and he'll like them (can't share what they are just yet). Trying to find either a futon, a NICE tv stand/ent. center, or housewares for Adam (for when he gets his own place soon).

3. I really should get through the end of chapter 2 in my Genesis study, but I've struggled to find time to work on it. Between school, moving 200 miles away in a few months, hubby working nights and sleeping days, and in a few weeks, he'll be back in school for a month to change careers where he'll be gone for days at a time for a few months. Oh yeah, and I'm the Secretary for the Board of Directors for our local Farmer's Market so I've been busy rewriting contracts, applications, policy changes, procedures, and fee structures.

4. I hope to get Jan & Feb of 2011 scrapbooked, but I'm not sure about that one.

5. I'll continue to cook healthier meals for my family. I was very successful doing that in January, but the food costs more than cheaper, processed food choices, do our pantry, freezer, and cupboards are pretty bare right now. Hopefully I can build up a little here and there this month if I find great deals on frozen veggies, canned or dried beans, meats, etc.

What are you hoping to get done in February?

Top 10 Things to do in January

I find that the best way to get motivated to do something I don't really want to do, is to announce to the world I'm going to do it. With my integrity now on the line, I'll get it done no matter what. So here's my Top 10 Things to get done in January.

1. Finish scrapbooking all the pictures from the first half of 2010. I was doing great until I joined the local farmer's market. Then I was baking 2 days a week, selling one day a week, and shopping for ingredients 1 to 2 days a week. That plus homeschooling the kids left me with no time to scrapbook. I also ran out of supplies necessary to do it. I got some things for Christmas, and aside from needing photo paper and sticky squares, I should be able to finish the first half of 2010 by the end of this month.

2. Lose 10 pounds. I've lost 6 so far, but 10 was on my January 1st goals list. If I hit that before the end of the month, I'll re-adjust the goal at that time. I'm doing it eating no grains and no sugar for 4 weeks. More on where I'll go from there on my Top 10 February list.

3. I will write at least the 1st chapter of Genesis in the bible study ebook I'm trying to do this year. I know I'll have to do much more than a chapter a month to finish anytime in the near future, but the first is the hardest because it's setting the format - after that you just repeat the pattern with new information.

4. I will go on a date with Tim. When we renewed our vows in early October, we got good at having a weekly date. With the holidays, and his reduced hours at work, money's been tight and dates were put off for a while. We still don't have extra for a nice dinner out or a movie for two, but we can go for a motorcycle or 4-wheeler ride on the warmer days, or drive into town to check out what's new at the thrift store.

5. I will talk to people all month and try to set up either another class to teach on how to use coupons effectively and easily - or else find someone to sign up for Kara's site: . I'm trying to help others learn to save money on groceries. They need this information and I want to bring it to them as close to free as possible.

6. I will cook healthier versions of regular foods for my family this month. I will not be buying the cheaper, less-healthy foods with chemicals, artificial food colorings and flavorings, an abundance of sugars, nor unhealthy white, processed wheat. I'll be buying more fruits, vegetables, whole grains and organic items.

7. I will be sure to exercise 12 times this month. That's 3 times a week, although I may do less one week and more the next. It's more than I would've done without it being on my list of goals.

8. I will make the calls on weekends I've been too busy to make time for. I hate the phone, maybe it comes from telemarketing jobs I've had, but I hate talking on the phone. Maybe I just hate sitting still that long, or not being able to multitask (since I try to be a good listener when I am on the phone). Anyway, I'll make the calls I've been putting off - there's about 5 of them.

9. I will finish the bible study we started before Christmas. I will complete the Lineage of Grace Series before switching days and taking a break from Wed. nights. The boys both want to be involved in Feeding the Hungry at our church. That's on Tues. & Thurs. Bible study is on Wed. My bible study has prevented them from being able to serve, since we can't make another 65 mile trip each week, so I will finish the study I'm in, then switch our shopping/errand day to Tuesdays to allow them to volunteer. That also gives me 7 days instead of 1 to pull all my coupons together before shopping.

10. I will not be too busy to make time to do fun things with the kids. It may be simply watching something on Netflix online together, or taking a walk on a warm day, or playing a board game - but I will make time for it.

Optimism abounds

I feel great about 2012. It seems that everywhere I look, people are optimistic about what this year may hold. After the past 2 to 3 years of so much pessimism, heartbreak, and lost opportunities - it's time for some hope, courage, strength, optimism, and focus. Time to shed the past, forget the mistakes, learn from them, and make better decisions as we move forward. Just like there's Resolutions people make to do things, here's a brief list of a few Resolutions that we should all take to heart, but it's a list of things NOT to do:

1. Don't listen to the critical, negative talk in our own heads. Nothing good can possibly come from that. What we think on, we become. Instead, we need to think different if we want our lives to be different.

2. Quit eating things that we know are killing us. We know white sugar, white flour, artificial flavors and colors, high fructose corn syrup, and other chemicals are not good for us. There's enough research results out there to prove our usual foods are barely "food" at all. Instead, we should focus on trying to live longer and healthier lives by eating more natural, healthy and organic foods whenever we can. At the very least, we should add more fruits and vegetables to our diet and cut out the sugars and artificial sweeteners. Did you know they have more in common to pesticides than food? Time to make conscious changes.

3. Stop wasting our resources. I'm not talking about the whole green planet thing. I'm talking about learning from mistakes of the past. So many people in America got into debt over their heads from using credit cards unwisely, buying more home and/or car than they could truly afford, and other such errors. It's not wrong to have nice things - if you can pay for them. Going into debt just to keep up with others is just plain dumb, and too many of us fell into that trap. Some of us were wise with our money, but jobs were taken away, companies closed their doors, and we were taken by surprise. What can we do differently next time? SAVE! I've never heard a good financial planner who didn't suggest paying yourself first, put money into savings BEFORE you pay other bills. If you don't do it then, you never will. When another storm comes, you'll once again be caught without the resources to get through it.

4. Family and friends have to stop taking a back seat to everything else. The generation behind mine saw so many kids who's parents were so absorbed in TV that they neglected to properly raise hard-working, respectful children. Then there's the crowd of workaholics. They hide in their work because it's where they get their self-worth. Carving out one night a week, or a few hours on a weekend, will that really bring them to the brink of bankruptcy? They act like it. If it does, then they aren't very good at their job, are they? Time to prioritize. People are more important that we realize, especially our family - they won't be around forever. Once they're gone, it's too late for a do-over. Appreciate them now.

5. And finally, this year, let's not worry about things we can't change. Let's just focus on those things we CAN change.

May 2012 bring you wisdom, creativity, good health, wealth, fun, loving relationships, and peace.

Happy New Year - 2012!!!

Happy New Year! And it really is, because 2011 was such a disappointment. We went months without any kind of steady income, Tim's job with the company he was starting with his father fell apart when they discovered support and stability wasn't backing the software platform. Then there's the hope of buying or renting a place of our own that fell through. My Grandmother passed away in the fall, and we seem to have more snow than usual here for December - we've already burned through half the winter's wood in just over a month and a half!

Okay, now that that's out of my system, here's the blessings of 2011 - the ones I remember at the moment, anyway...Tim got a job and it pays more than minimum wage. I got a laptop for Christmas. I got to spend Spring Break in the valley with the kids for a whole week in March. I made new friends at church and through the Concho Farmer's Market. I made hundreds of dollars selling scones, lemon/lime curd, and dessert platters. I paid cash for Christmas and got the kids what they wanted. This was the first year in so many years that Adam appreciated what he got, participated in the Christmas festivities, and admitted this year was better than last year. I was able to buy a pair of glasses to fix my left eye vision problems. Adam found a job as 2011 was just getting started, and although he ended up quitting and hating it - it paid him thousands for stuff he wanted and his share of the bills, and made him feel better about himself and his surroundings. Adam got his license this year - a HUGE help to me and freedom for him. Logan got his permit this year. I learned how to save lots of money with coupons and in turn, teach others to do the same and it's making a real difference in their lives. My faith is on the grow again, FINALLY! Tim and I both want the same things for 2012 (to move, for him to get his CDL). Jordan's schooling getting better and better. I'm back in touch with my cousin Tracy and my aunt Jane again.I can scrapbook through the winter with just a few minor purchases. We're affording our Monavie every month, so keeping the RA/arthritis and migraines to a minimum. Tim & I renewed our vows at the Festival of Marriage weekend in Glorieta, NM. So although there were many disappointments and lots of stress - there was also much to be thankful for.

As we head into 2012, here's a few Resolutions I can share publicly:

1. I'm going to rewrite my Genesis bible study into a format I can sell.
2. Once we decide where we're moving, probably Show Low (Tim's not thinking Payson nor the Valley right now, but only God knows what's ahead), we'll either join FBCSL as members, or find a new church in Payson, or return to MVC in Scottsdale - depending where the trucking job leads (or whatever else God may have planned for Tim through WalMart).
3. I will be teaching coupon classes all year - and getting my out-of-state Couponing Info website out there for customers to sign up.
4. I'll finish scrapbooking all of 2011.
5. I'll be spending January following the Maker's Diet - organic, healthy, natural foods only. Last year I did it for 90 days and looked and felt great.

Have a great New Year's. Stay safe.

Almost 2012!

It's been quite a while since I've been on here. Mostly because our computer died on Thanksgiving and we can't replace it yet. For Christmas Tim tried to buy me a laptop at his work, but they're sold out temporarily with no idea when they'll be back in, just that it'll be "soon". He paid for it and got me the gift card for it, but I still have to just wait.

Christmas was pretty good this year. We chose to do everything in the late afternoon/early evening since everyone's working weird shifts lately. We had a great dinner with the 7 of us, beef roast, potatoes, gravy, veggies, garlic cheddar biscuits, coconut cream pie, pecan pie, and peppermint stick ice cream!

I got a bunch of scrapbooking stuff from Mom (exactly what I was thinking I wanted), the gift card for the laptop, and Adam got me a nice light up angel decoration. The kids got clothes, money, gift cards, soft blankets and more. Tim asked for movies (live-action superhero ones) so we got him 8 of them! That should keep us busy while we wait for the computer and order Netflix.

Although it's snowed a lot already this winter and has been very cold, including below zero nights, the past 2 days have been warm and sunny. That's important for me to get through these cold winters again. I do miss palm trees and warm winters more than anything!

Adam took his first solo trip to the Valley during vacation. He drove the 200 miles down, will stay for 2 weeks, then drive home again. I made him promise me he wouldn't go anywhere New Year's Eve unless it's with his friend Tim's whole family. Other than that, he'll make good decisions, so I hope he has a great time.

Hopefully, the computer will come in soon and I'll be back on here more regularly, but for now, the library countdown is ticking so I have to go.

Thanksgiving Day

Today is thanksgiving. Mom & Dad are on the east coast, we have no friends or family that live near us, so I guess it's just the 5 of us again. Could be worse, it could just be the 4 of us. With Tim working at WalMart these days, he easily could've ended up working today - so I'm happy he's home today. He won't have to do a ridiculous Black Friday shift either. He won't go in til 10pm after the madness is over, the shelves are depleted, and hopefully, that should make his new inventory go up faster.

We're staying very traditional this year. I'm roasting a turkey, making homemade stuffing from scratch, mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, and since the kids never had them, I bought King's Hawaiian sweet rolls instead of making my usual garlic cheddar biscuits. For dessert, I made a simple pumpkin pie and pudding pie with Jordan. We had some phyllo cups left over from a previous event so we filled those with pudding too. Maybe we'll put those out at noon with veggie sticks, crackers, cheese and dip.

We'll eat around 3 or so, plenty of time to work off what we eat - though I don't remember ever going back for seconds on Thanksgiving - just not my thing. I wish we had football to watch - I hate TV so I almost never miss it - except Thanksgiving, and NFL playoffs, and of course the SuperBowl.

My family isn't big on sharing things to be thankful for, so instead of being disappointed when my expectations for family bonding doesn't happen, I'll just go into today unexpecting. Just being with my family will be enough. This may be our last Thanksgiving with Adam for a while, since he wants to move to the valley as soon as possible. I'll just enjoy today with a casual, relaxing plan of having no set plans.

Maybe, if I get lucky, we'll have a few games of darts, ping pong, or find a movie we can watch together - minus Adam - he'll come out to eat, then go back to his room, but that's okay. That's how he likes it, that's always been his personality. I don't get frustrated because I can't change people to do what I want or be like I want them to be.

It'll be a good day today.

Fall 2011

Logan went to his first dance, Homecoming at St.John's high with his friend, Justine King.

Halloween night Jordan dressed up as a gypsy (at the last minute) to pass out candy. We only had 14 kids total this year.

We had a Prairie Hawk on the back deck yesterday morning - they're so beautiful.

My "Babci", (grandmother in Polish) passed away in October. I have lots of great memories with her. She'll be sadly missed.

Not many pictures in October - been really busy with the couponing site and stuff for about 3 months. Hopefully my Winter 2011 pictures will be more interesting, and there'll be more stories to tell.

New Coupon Site

I miss having this blog for family and personal stuff that I don't want to necessarily share on Facebook, so I created a place for all my coupons info. to be shared, to teach others to save tons off their grocery bills, and share deals. It's kept private, and for a one-time signup of just $15 (introductory price for the rest of 2011), you get a private invitation to view it and use it yourself! After 2011, the price will go to just $20, with no renewal fees. I plan on improving the site on-going to include links to coupons, member testimonies of savings, great deals, hard-to-find coupons, and more. If you're interested, just get in touch with me and let me know you want an invitation. You can mail me a check and I'll grant you access to the account.

From here on in, posts will not be about coupons.

Best Shopping Day so far...

I went to Safeway and got $39 worth of stuff for just $8 but they handed me back $2, so I guess I got it all for $6.

Then I went to CVS, bought $29 worth of stuff, used my coupons, paid for it with only about $7 worth of extra bucks, and $1.39 in cash - then they handed me back $4.25 in more extra bucks, so I guess they actually paid me to take the stuff off their hands?!

Best deal:

Revlon age defying makeup stuff - normally $15
On sale for $10
Had a $5 off coupon from the Sunday paper
There was a $2 instant coupon on the product itself,
It only cost me $3, which I paid for with Extra Bucks, then they issued me more extra bucks for buying it, so it was FREE, plus I now have extra bucks to spend like cash on a future purchase.

Changing habits

As good as I've been able to do shopping lately, I think I can make it a bit better. We've only got Safeway and Walmart's superstore available to us on a regular basis. We went to Walmart the other day, trying to save money, and even though there were a few lower prices on stuff we regularly buy (Safeway's prices, even sale prices, are higher than normal right now), because there's no flyer for groceries to plan with, no card to swipe with pre-loaded eCoupons, and paper coupons are only worth face value (Safeway raises all coupons under a dollar up to a dollar), I ended up hardly saving anything at all, even with the lower prices.

Our new habit is that instead of shopping on Wednesdays when we go to town for banking and other errands, we'll shop almost exclusively at Safeway - but on Sundays after church. Here's why:

Safeway runs regular Wed. through Tues. weekly ads like most stores, but they also run mini sales on items "Fri - Sun only". Sometimes they're items on sale throughout the week, but they're even cheaper on the weekend. For example, we went on a Wed. a few weeks ago. I needed shredded cheese for something and it's almost $4 when it's not on sale. That week, it went on sale for $2.99. On the weekend, it was just $1.99 - now cheaper than Walmart's price of about $2.29 or so. If it happened to be a brand with a coupon, like Sargento, then I can use a 50 cents off coupon, which they'll raise up to $1, and now the almost $4 cheese is just 99 cents. Half the price of Walmart's cheaper product.

Safeway also runs a 3rd mini sale with it's own flyer almost every week. It's for items "Sun, Mon & Tues. only". I know it seems strange, but I guess it's so they can offer low prices but for a shorter time than a week. I'm sure many people think to themselves when shopping, "I have to get _________ because it was in the flyer for a great price," only to find out when they get to the store that price isn't until tomorrow, or ended yesterday, but since they planned on getting it, they buy it and pay a little more.

We'll shop there this Sunday instead of Wednesday, which allows us to take advantage of all 3 sales on the same day. That should maximize what we can save. As for Walmart, we'll go there once in a while when we have to save on something, but it won't be part of our regular weekly shopping trips.

By the way, CVS & Walgreen's are new additions to our weekly errands. I have found you can peek at their sale flyer a few days before it's published, which gives me time to prepare. I figured out that although in the beginning I have to pay cash at CVS for a few things, they offer a bonus bucks back type of reward on many items that also carry coupons, so after a short while of smart shopping, I'll be able to use my "bonus bucks" to pay for the personal care items I need, and use coupons (both theirs from their flyers and my paper ones), and will get to walk out with products without cash out of pocket for most of them. It's more time-consuming to plan and track, but worth it when you've got so little income to stretch.

I'll keep you posted on what I'm doing, how I'm doing it, and what I matched. Take what you can from my experiences and make them work for your family. Good luck!

Couponing - Week 4

Today, I did better at Walmart, Walgreen's and CVS I think than at Safeway. Although I got to use store coupons + eCoupons + paper coupons all on one item at Safeway, if they're starting price, sale or not, is SO much higher, it's still not worth it. I chose to save my coupons for another day, and instead of getting what I planned on getting, I found good-priced products & food, then hunted on my coupon list to see if I possibly had an ecoupon or paper coupon for it. If I did, then I got those instead of what I originally had on my list. Our family doesn't really care if I buy frozen fish sticks one week and chicken patties the next - or vice-versa.

Here's some deals I found:

WalMart, I went in just to check prices on health & beauty items. I wrote in those prices next to the same item on my coupons list so I could enter them in a price book or on a price sheet later. I found Suave deodorant for 97 cents. I looked on my printout of coupons (alphabetized) and saw I had a coupon for .75 off ANY Suave deodorant. I only paid 22 cents for it (plus tax)! That's a great deal!

Walgreen's, I found Dawn dish detergent that's regularly $2.49. I clipped a store coupon from their flyer right there in the aisle for $1 off, so now it was $1.49. I had another paper coupon of my own for another $1 off. I paid 50 cents for it.

I saw Brut deodorant is normally $2.99. Last week they were sold out but I got a rain check to preserve the price at $1.50. I got one yesterday for the $1.50 plus used a paper coupon for another $1 off, so I paid .50 for that too. (With 5 of us, 3 hard-working guys, and living 30 miles from a store to buy more, we don't want to run out of deodorant). This was a great deal.

I also got 2 boxes of Garnier(?) HerbaShine hair color. It's always $7.99. I got a coupon for a FREE BOX by liking their Facebook page just a few weeks ago, and they mailed me the coupon. I also printed online a coupon for $3 off a box of the same product. My hair is long, and it usually takes 2 boxes, so getting a deal on 1 box but paying a lot for the 2nd is no fun. Yesterday I bought 2 boxes, used both coupons, and instead of paying $16, I only paid $5 for BOTH boxes, or just $2.50 a piece. Another great deal in my book.

Crest mouthwash - the largest one I've seen, is usually around $6 a bottle. After using the Dollar Tree version of mouthwash, that price seems ridiculous. Anyway, I happened to find it in Walgreen's on sale cheaper than the smaller bottle - it was $3.99. I had a coupon for $2 off a bottle, so I got a large $6 bottle for just $1.99. When I figured out the difference, we got MORE mouthwash per ounce than if we'd spent the same $2 at a dollar store, so that was also a great buy!

CVS - not really a coupon thing, but their flyer had VO5 shampoo & conditioner for just 77 cents, no coupon necessary, so we got a few of those.

Okay, now on to Safeway...

I found Eggo muffin tops (like frozen waffles), these normally sell for $3.69 each, but were on sale for $2. I had a store coupon for $1 off 2 and an eCoupon for another .75 off 2. I ended up paying just $1.13 each.

Yogurt - Greek yogurt cups usually range from $1.39 to $1.79 each. I can't pay that much for just 5 - 6 oz of yogurt, even if it is good. I had a lot of coupons on these:

I bought 5 Greek cups (some Yoplait, some Dannon Oikos). They were on sale for $1 each, so that's already a savings of about $2.50 on the 5 of them. Then didn't have any eCoupons on these but I had a paper coupon for a FREE cup, and 2 more coupons that let me save $1 on 2 cups, so those were like a Buy One Get One FREE coupon. I paid $2 for all 5 yogurts, just .40 each!

Also I happened to notice an "introductory price" sale sticker on Tampax Pearl Compak 18 ct. boxes. They're $5.49, I had an eCoupon for $2 off a box of any "Pearl" box. Then I had a paper coupon for Buy One Get One FREE on the exact same product up to $6.49. I got 2 boxes and paid a total of just $2.49 or only $1.25 each!

My biggest lessons learned this week:

1. You really can get better quality and spend less than for the store brand or dollar store brands by using coupons carefully.

2. Don't use a coupon just because you have it. If the store price, even on sale, is too high to start with, don't waste the coupon.

3. Pairing coupons - store flyer clipped ones + eCoupons + paper coupons = amazing savings!

Good luck on your own shopping! If you're interested in coming to a class at my house on Nov. 8th at 1:00pm, I'm hosting Kara, the one who taught me how to do this. For just $5 a person, you too can learn how to save BIG on groceries and household items. If you're not in AZ, I'm working on an East Coast program for you. It'll take some time to get to know what stores you have, their coupon policies, etc. But when it's done, I'll make it available on a blog for you.

Couponing - Week 3

This week I did well, but not great. Safeway didn't have too many great deals and with WalMart, you never know what you'll find for prices until you get there when it comes to groceries. I did manage to start at $184 and pay just $98, though. Not bad, saved $86.

I have a hard time figuring out by the receipt what's a store coupon and what's a manufacturer's ecoupon, but here's what I can tell:

1. I bought 2 boxes of Yoplait Gogurt. They were $2.00 ea. on sale, so that's $4. I used an eCoupon for .75/2, so now I paid 3.25 for 2 boxes. Then I used a paper coupon for .75/2 but Safeway matches the difference so it's like a $1/2 coupon. Now I paid $2.50 for 2 boxes, or just $1.25 each. That's a great price.

2. I bought Axe deodorant. They were priced at $3.99 and I got 2, so that should be about $8. I had a store flyer coupon that said I got them for just $3.49 each, so that's about $7 for both. Then I had an eCoupon for .50 off one, so now total cost is $6.50. Then I had a manufacturers coupon for $1 off 1. Now cost is $5.50. I then had another manufacturer's coupon for Buy One, Get One Free (up to $5.99). The cashier, Chris, our favorite, gave us the full $5.99 credit instead of just the $3.99 sale price. Final cost...NEGATIVE 50 cents! They paid me to take 2 Axe deodorants home! Can't beat FREE!

3. Pillsbury Crescent Rolls - I got 2. They were on sale for $1.99 ea. (so $4 total). I had a flyer coupon to get them for 1.69 ea. so now cost is down to $3.38. I used an eCoupon for .50/2, so now we're down to $2.88 for 2. I also had a paper coupon for .50/2 but Safeway matches to make coupons up to $1, so it became $1 off 2, so final cost was 1.88 for 2, or just 94 cents each. I used this same combination for 2 Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls too. I paid a grand total of $3.76 for 4 rolls/cans.

4. Toaster Strudels, $2.50 each, I got two, so $5. Flyer coupon made them just 1.99 ea. so now I was paying $4 for both boxes. I had an eCoupon for .50/2, so total cost was down to $3.50. Then I had a paper coupon for .50/2 which became $1 off 2, so now I paid $2.50 for 2. It was like Buy One Get One Free, or just $1.25 each.

5. Wishbone Dressing was $3.79. I got 2. What should've cost $7.58 (which I'd NEVER pay for 2 bottles of dressing!), got reduced immediately by the paper Buy One, Get One FREE coupon I had, so cost was back down to $3.79. I also had an eCoupon for $1 off, so now it was $2.79. Then I had a paper coupon for $2 off any bottle, and since I was paying for that 1st one, I got to use this coupon too. Now cost for 2 bottles was down to 79 cents. Final cost...just 39 cents each for the big bottles!

6. I was heading out of the store and saw my kids' favorite gummy snacks in the Clearance cart at 50% off. The clearance price made them .99 each. I had a paper coupon for $1 off 2 boxes, so final cost on those was just .50 each.

7. At checkout, I also received 2 - $1 off your next shopping trip coupons because I bought the fruit snacks and there was a buy more, save more type of program running.

I also got some okay deals, like Almond Milk for $1.99 instead of $3.69. I got SnackWells 100 calorie snacks form $1.75 a box instead of $3.79, their regular price.

Oh, I forgot, on the way to get groceries, we stopped at Walgreen's. They had Edge Gel on special for just $1.49 and I had a paper coupon for $1 off. I paid just 50 cents for the big 7oz can. I had to get a rain check for another brand of deodorant that they had on sale. It was on sale for .99 ea. and I have coupons for $1 off so they're FREE when they replenish their stock.

Not bad for a week without great sales to start with. Ready to come to a class in November to learn how you can save too?

How I Saved with Coupons - 2nd week in

My total was $215 - I paid just 89.92 for groceries, and although I put over $16 worth of non-food items in my cart, that only came to $3.46! That's less than just the bath tissue alone!

The register printed out 2 receipts which confused Chris, the cashier. He gave us 1 of the 2, but gave me the wrong one. This one doesn't show all the coupons redeemed for each item, just a long list at the end. I'll try to figure out how I saved so much.

1st: My Safeway card gave me all the sale prices for stuff in the weekly flier.

2nd: The Safeway card then credits my balance with all the pre-loaded 3-coupons I put on the card.

3rd: I handed Chris the Safeway flier coupons - they read that you get that price "with card AND coupon".

4th: I handed Chris the manufacturer coupons - both paper ones from Sunday's inserts as well as ones I had printed out. 3 of the dozens I used wouldn't work because it printed in draft and the ink was too light, it couldn't be read by the scanner at checkout. My FREE pasta ended up costing me .79/lb. , which is still a good price, and I only bought 2 boxes. Also 1 of the 2 Pillsbury coupons didn't go through, but a $3 was still 1.99. I wouldn't have bought it normally, but I was okay with it. It was 9:00 at night, I was tired, and didn't care. The kids will enjoy them.

First the weekly ad deals - looks like they totaled: about $56 roughly.

The e-coupons totaled: about $10 or so

I also got $5 off instantly because Safeway's special was to spend $15 in frozen foods, get $5 off.

At this point, my balance went from $215.75 down to $135.80. I don't know exactly where or how, but that means on just e-coupons & weekly sale items, my total dropped by $79.95! There's another $9 or so in savings somewhere, not sure where, maybe just in produce sale prices or something.

Now the paper coupons from the weekly ad I clipped, about $18 of them:

My balance went from $135.80 down to $125.53. Only about a $10 savings there, but remember, this was an additional $10 off after I already got the sale price on stuff.

Example: Bath tissue, normally $8, on sale for $6 if you have their shopping card. I already got the $2 off for the weekly sale, but the store flier coupon dropped it further down to $4.88.

Next, manufacturer coupons brought it down from $125.53 to just $105.67. Another $20 saved.

I also noticed a coupon I got credited with I had no idea I was getting and not sure how it works. It seems to say on the receipt that I got $10 for spending $75. That brought it down to just $95.67.

The non-food items I kept separately, I love to track everything, and what should've been well over $18 (at sale prices, mind you), totaled just $3.46. Less than just the bath tissue - so I must've actually had cash back from a few items that was put towards this balance.

Now to figure out to the best of my knowledge, with the wrong receipt, what I ended up paying for what items - I know some were free and many ended up being under $1.

Oh yeah, I also a gas reward for .10/gallon off too!