Have you ever been watching a TV show and something that was said resonated so deeply that you had a profound epiphany at that moment?

I was watching a talk show and the guest and the host were discussing health issues and why the woman hadn't changed her life-style habits. The host made a point to say that she needed to love herself enough to make the changes.

In that moment I realized that I need to love myself enough to make the changes in my life to lose some more weight. I've made a lot of changes over the last couple years. I am healthier and feel much better then I did a few years back. My blood pressure is better. I even managed to lose about 10 lbs and right now I've kept it off for 2 years. But it's time to step it up. 10 pounds is good but to really be healthy I need to lose about 70 lbs all together.

So, I need to make some more changes.  I am not sure what my next steps will be, but I am going to keep changing for the better.

Crock Pot Potato Soup

Since some friends have requested my recipe I decided to go ahead and type it up.  I don't often use recipes so my dishes come out different every time. This time the soup was awesome and I don't know that I would have changed one thing about it so I will share it with you.

This recipe is for a large 6 quart crockpot since I have a family of 5 including 3 teenagers (which often means extra visitors in the house too) so you will have to cut it down if your family is smaller.

I started the soup just before noon figuring that dinner would be served around 7 or so. Schedules around here are chaotic on Sundays because my daughter is a worship leader for her youth group and my husband works the lights during church services. That made this meal perfect since it could sit in the crock pot until everyone was home.

Start by putting your base ingredients in the pot.

1 standard carton of swansons chicken broth
1 3lb bag of potatoes, peeled and cubed
4 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 tablespoons of green onions or scallions diced (optional yellow or white onions chopped work as well )
1 tablespoon of chicken base (bouillon cubes would work too)
4 cups of water (or just enough to fill about 2/3 of the pot)

At this point I did some seasoning with garlic powder and onion salt, salt and pepper. Just remember that potatoes absorb all the salt in a dish so don't salt to much at this point. You WILL have to salt again.  I set my crock pot on high for 6 hours.

At the last 30-45 minutes I reset the crock pot on high again.  I used my blender to make my thickening mix. 

Thickening mix:
1 1/2 cups of milk,
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup of the potatoes from the soup
1 tub of Philladelphia Cooking Creme in the Savory Garlic flavor
1/2 cup of shredded cheese (I used a taco blend)

I blended the mix until smooth and then poured it in the crockpot with the soup. This pretty much filled my crock pot almost to the top. I mixed the soup until it started to thicken. Let it continue to cook for the last 30 or so minutes until it is the thickness you desire. At this point I salt and peppered one last time. Then I turned off the crock pot and it is ready to serve. I served with shredded cheese and oyster crackers on the side.

One note: don't add any dairy products too early in the cooking process; milk, cooking creme, sour cream etc. If added too early they will curdle in your pot.

It was a big hit with my family and our guest and my husband will be taking some for lunch tomorrow too. It's a great winter crock pot recipe!

How much did I actually spend on Halloween candy?

I want to follow-up on my Halloween candy scores.  Usually, before I started couponing, I would run out the day before or day of and buy it last minute. That would usually mean I spent about $20-25 on the cheapest candy I could find at Walmart which includes the pixie sticks, smarties, etc. If you have kids, or even if you don't then you probably know that is the undesirable candy and that most of us prefer the chocolate candy bars. If you are in the minority that doesn't like chocolate, I feel sorry for you. :)

So this year I started early in the month watching for good deals on fun size or snack size candy bars. Boy did I score!

My first deal was good. I ended up paying about $1.50 a bag for 3 large bags of  fun size M &Ms and Snickers. These are the large 19 to 22 oz bags that usually run an average of $5 or more a bag. Then over the course of the next couple weeks I picked up 6 more small bags of candy. These were the 10 to 11.18 oz bags of candy that average $3.50 or more and occasionally are on sale for $2.50 a bag. My final price per bag for these was $0.50-0.99 a bag.

Here's my final score list:
11.18 oz bag of Snickers                                                              $0.99
10.78 oz bag of Hershey's Cookies and Creme bars                    $0.99
10.78 oz bag of Kit Kat bars                                                        $0.99
10.78 oz bag of Kit Kat bars                                                        $0.99
10.23 oz bag of Snickers with Almonds                                      $0.49
10.23 oz bag of Snickers with Almonds                                      $0.49
11.23 oz bag of Peanut M&Ms                                                    $1.50
19.07 oz bag of M&Ms                                                                $1.50
22.55 oz bag of Snickers                                                              $1.50

Total Price                                                                                   $9.44

So to recap I bought 9 bags of candy for under $10. That means I cut my normal candy cost more than in half and it was all the good stuff. There was enough for me to fill my candy bowl for Trick or Treaters and still have some left over to go in the candy jar for my husband and older teenagers.

This is just one of many examples of ways to save money with a little preparation and planning.

It's Super Doubles at Harris Teeter!!

It's Super Doubles at Harris Teeter.  That means stock up time on a lot of products.  Today was my big shopping day, where I spend a couple hours going through the store combing the isles for deals and freebies.  Wednesday I work out of the home at a job and so I only had about 30 minutes in the store to grab a few must have items and deals. Here is the run down of my scores from those two trips.

2 Tabasco pepper sauces
3 cans of Furmans crushed tomatoes
4 Martha White Muffin mixes
1 Lysol disinfectant wipes
2 Morton season salts
1 Kikkoman Soy Sauce
1 San Pelegrino Sparkling water
4 cans Blue Diamond flavored Almonds
2 boxes Celestial flavored teas
1 Hidden Valley Salad Mix
1 Buitonni 4 cheese and spinach ravioli meal
1 box of New York Texas Toast
1 tub of Haagen-Dazs chocolate ice cream
2 tubs of Philadelphia Cooking Creme
1 tub of HT Ricotta Cheese
2 doz HT large eggs
2 packages of Mission Artisan Multi grain Tortillas
4 bags of Krunchers Potato Chips
4 Boxes of Nut Thins
1 Carpet Fresh
1 A1 Steak Sauce
2 Dr Pepper 2L
2 pkgs Dentek Easy Interdental Brush Cleaners
1 Country Crock tub of butter
2 Best Life tubs of margarine


Spent Total OOP $26.30
received one catalina for $4 on next purchase

Retail Value $177.28.

Just a note on some of my tips and tricks of the trade.

Take advantage of catalina deals:  I used one $4 catalina "on your next purchase" yesterday that I received last week from the purchase of 4 boxes of Blue Diamond Nut Thins. Received another catalina yesterday from the purchase of 4 more boxes of Nut Thins. Rolled that one today and received another catalina from the purchase of 4 cans of Blue Diamond flavored almonds.  Since the Blue Diamond products are on sale B1G1 free, that is a great deal even without the coupons, but since I had $1 coupon on 2 (that doubles to $2 off) this deal makes me $2 each time I roll the catalina. Great way to decrease my OOP (out of pocket)!!

Check out other sites that offer coupons:
I also had a coupon for $10 off $50 spent from Recycle Bank. It's a great way to go green and earn points towards purchasing other savings coupons and prizes.  Check them out here.

One additional note here....I also use Swagbucks. They have a coupon section that is the same coupons on coupons.com and I receive 10 swagbucks for every coupon redeemed.  The swagbucks are awarded to my account a couple weeks after I use the coupon and then I redeem all my swagbucks for Amazon gift cards to purchase books for the kids' homeschooling  or books for my Kindle. Check out swagbucks here.

Take advantage of rebate offers and combine coupons when possible: There is a rebate for the Lysol wipes that will refund me $3 (the retail purchase price of the wipes was $2.99, but I had a $1 off coupon that doubled to $2 off making the wipes only $0.99).  That means I will make an additional $2 off this shopping trip when my rebate arrives.

Take advantage of your grocery store ad deals such as meal deals and make sure to check your member cards and receipts for additional savings:  HT had a meal deal this week where when you purchase the Buittoni meal for two, then you also get the San Pellegrino sparkling water, the New York Texas Toast, and the Haagen-Dazs ice cream all for free. The meals were priced $9.99 but I had a evic offer last week on my receipt saying I would get $2 off if I purchased a Buittoni meal by 11/15.  Then I also had a coupon ( I believe it may have came from the November All You magazine) for $1.50 off that doubled to $3 off the meal. That brings my total spent for all 4 items down to $4.99.

One final note: Make sure to watch the cashier ring up your coupons and double check your receipts. They will often miss coupons and things don't always ring up correctly. These mistakes could cost you a lot of money over time. Just today I found that my Texas Toast didn't come off my bill and the full price of the San Pellegrino didn't either.  I will have to make a trip to customer service tomorrow to take care of those charges. Also today I went to CVS and the cashier missed one of my ECB coupons. Luckily she realized  it and handed it back to me. That's about $10 in mistakes all in one day!

At the end of the day it was a great day couponing. I even got to be the coupon fairy while I was in the store. I had an odd number of coupons for the blue diamond deal and I shared the last coupon I had with a nice gentleman who was doing his grocery shopping and purchasing 2 cans of the Blue Diamond almonds. Great feeling when you can pass the savings on to someone!

How did you do with Super Doubles!???!!

 

So I am really excited about my finds this week.  I spent a little more this week then I usually do but there was a couple reasons for this. 

First, I normally don't do any shopping at Rite Aid, but this week there were quite a few freebies and one deal, the John Frieda Hair products that I really needed. I didn't have any UP rewards to roll and I didn't want any left over because I will likely not be back there for quite a few weeks. That means I go ahead and spend them all in one shopping trip.
Second, I took my 14 year old along for the trip and along with the 2 slim jims or meat sticks, the gummy bears, the caramels and the candy corn you see in the picture, she also got a nail polish and a mascara for coming along.  That's another reason I like my couponing......I have money left over to spoil my kids from time to time.  :) 
Thirdly, I also purchased 4 of my Sunday papers in these transactions.

I shopped at Walgreens and CVS this week as well and did multiple transactions in Rite Aid and CVS to keep my OOP down. What you see is the combination of shopping at all three stores.

The retail value of all of this was $139.82 and I spent $40.51 OOP, I have $4 in Walgreens Register Rewards left over, $6 in Extra Care Bucks left over, and I have about $11 coming back in rebates from RiteAid. So my net cost for this trip was $19.  That is not bad for all that I came home with that you see in the picture plus the nail polish, mascara, and the 4 newspapers.

Here's what I got this week.

• Listerine Mouthwash
• Tic Tac big pack
• Hall Apple Cider Cough Drops
• Cover Girl eye shadow ( I actually needed a new eye shadow so I was especially excited about this.)
• Cover Girl tinted moisturizer
• 3 bags of Fun Size candies (preparing for Halloween, I usually end up spending about $25  on  candy...not this year!)
• Pur-Absorb Iron supplement 28 pk (my 16 year is actually in need of this and it was a $15.99 value completely free!)
• movie snacks for my 14 yr old (2 meat sticks, 1 bag gummy bears, 1 bag of caramels, 1 bag of candy corn)
• 1 bottle of the crackle nail polish
• 1 liquid eyeliner
• 1 box of Playtex Gentle Glide tampons (two teenage girls in the house so these won't last long)
• 1 bottle of Chloraseptic throat spray
• 1 box of Cepacol throat lozenges (stocking up for winter, we usually go through quite a few bags of cough drops)
• 1 bottle of hand sanitizer
• 1 blistex lip ointment
• 1 bag of Burt's bees honey cough drops
• 1 box of Prep H Totable wipes (not something we actually need at the moment, but it was a money maker for me and I can donate either to a family member or other charity such as a homeless shelter.)
• 2 bottle of Frizz-ease Straight Fixation (my 16 yr old uses this almost every day and normally it's about $5 a bottle)
• 1 Scope mouthwash
• 1 Zarbees Child Cough Syrup (again this was a money maker and I will donate this to one of my family members with small children)
• 1 Emergen-c Immune Shots (I've actually tried these before and found that they are a great feel better boost during winter blahs)
• 2 pkgs carefree pantyliner
• 1 bottle of Robitussin  (I actually got this at Lowe's Foods on clearance and with a coupon it cost me $2.19. I've had some terrible allergies this year and went through one whole bottle already so I decided to take advantage of the sale and purchase this bottle before I run out.

My tip for you this week is that you don't always get everything for free, but with a little organization you can score some GREAT deals on things you already use and need.

A good starting foundation for couponing.

I want to give you some tips about couponing.

First, you need to be very organized so that you don't end up wasting your time looking for coupons you know you have and can't find. You need to be organized with your storage of your products too. You don't want to be purchasing product that you don't need or that will expire before you use it, so it is important to organize your pantry and your bathroom closets/cabinets so you know what you have on hand.

Second, you need to make sure that you understand the program and the coupon policy at the store you are going to be purchasing your products. I recommend starting with one store and starting to coupon at that store first and then once you have mastered it there, branching out to another store. Print the coupon policy for that store and learn it and take it with you. If you don't understand the policy, ask questions before you get to the register.

Third, though some let this take over their lives and become a job for them, most of us do not have that kind of time. If you watch TV for 1-3 hours a week then you have time to coupon, but I recommend using sites like southernsavers.com and coupondivas.com to match up your coupons to the sales and create your shopping list for you. This saves me so much time that I would otherwise have to spend going over the circulars. To be accurate and never miss any deals you would have to keep a detailed up to date price list of items all the time.

These three tips are the foundation for successfull couponing.

Part 2: Couponing

So last year I started a series on couponing with the intention of busting some myths about the practice.  I want to prove that those excuses why you don't coupon are really costing you money.  This is Part 2 in a series. I want to break down the groceries and household products shopping for you.

If you have ever said that they don't make coupons for the products or brands you use then this blog post is for you. 

First, I want to say....you do use toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant, soap, shampoo, razors,  and you do clean your house, right?  Then there are definitely coupons out there that can save you money. Even if you don't use a coupon for anything else purchasing these products with coupons can save you hundreds, even thousands of dollars a year. Furthermore, if you are stuck on the same brands all the time and you are not willing to try other brands, there are still ways to save tons of money couponing.

Lets chat about the pharmacies.  For a very long time I avoided the pharmacies. It's common knowledge that their products are marked up as compared to the large discount stores such as Walmart and Kmart and even compared to most grocery stores.  I only went there on occasion when other stores were not open (like in the middle of the night with a sickly child) or when I was in a hurry and didn't want to deal with the crowds or size of the other stores (like when on vacation or running late for an appointment).  I rarely purchased anything other then exactly what I entered the store for in the first place. I even remember getting a Register Reward from my local Walgreens only to throw it away (gasp!!  I know it's terrible!!)  as it was a coupon and I never used them. Then one day while working my 9-5 office job someone mentioned that they were saving tons by shopping there and sometimes they even got products for free! I got very curious and decided to see what the fuss was all about.

I began couponing and shopping the deals, mostly at the Walgreens and CVS and realized that I could get toothbrushes, toothpaste and razors all for FREE!  And we aren't talking about the cheap ones either! That's when I was hooked.

You see, the pharmacies regularly put items on sale and give rewards that print at the register (called catalinas) that you can use toward future purchases.  Every week there are rewards to be earned. At Walgreens they are called Register Rewards, (abreviated RR on coupon blogs). CVS rewards are called extra care bucks (ECB) and Rite Aid's are called UP rewards.  If you roll your rewards every week into other deals you can stretch your money even further.

To give you an idea of some of the deals that I get and how much I save week to week here are two real shopping scenarios that I actually did.

CVS is a great store to start in and learn to coupon.  Make sure to take advantage of their kiosk and scan your card for more deals.  I recently went to CVS for my weekly shopping trip. We had recently been on vacation and so I had no ECB to roll over and had to pay for everything OOP (out of pocket) but in the end it was still an awesome deal.

Here's What I purchased.
2 Dawn Dish Soap
2 boxes of Finish dishwasher detergent tablets
2 Softsoap Body wash
2 Aussie hairsprays
1 Aussie Hair Gel
1 Aussie Mousse
3 Airwick i-motion air fresheners
1 box of Wheat Thins crackers
1 box of St. Joseph's Aspirin

 AT the time of my trip I actually was out of body wash and needed to purchase some anyway. Plus I have always tried to purchase products we use regularly when they are on sale to save money. My girls use the Aussie hair products and they were on sale even before coupons. If I had purchased only those products at Walmart it would have cost me about $21 (thats 2.97 x2 for the bodywash and 3.94 x4 for the Aussie hair care).

When I purchased all these items which were on sale or had rewards on them, I ended up spending $23 out of pocket and got back 16 ECB to be used next time.   That makes my net cost that night only $7 for all those products and I still had 16 ECB to use the next week!

Now this week I made a trip to Walgreens that was especially exciting. I had 12 RR to roll over in the deal. I did 2 early transactions and scored 10 more RR and then put them all into purchasing my main transaction which was items I really needed at the time or items that were an already awesome deal with sales and coupons.  3 transactions ended up costing me a total of $11.60 OOP and I got back $5 more register rewards.

Here's what I came home with:
2 12 pk cottonelle
2 35 ct clorox wipes
2 Lt Brown Sugar boxes
1 4# domino sugar
1 Re-nu solution
1 Schick Men's Quattro Titanium razor
1 Schick Women's 4 pk refills
7 or 8 different character pencils
4 Hershey's chocolate bars (not shown)

The toilet paper we desperately needed as we were down to less then a roll in each bathroom in our house. I already own a quatro razor but I needed the refills. Just for arguments sake lets say I want to Sam's club and bought the cheapest brand of toilet paper (probably 32 rolls) for around $17 and went to walmart and bought the cheapest razors for around $3 then I would have spent $20 out of pocket, not gotten all these products or any rewards to use next time.  Talk about smart shopping!!  And these are all name brand products, not generic.

The trick with all this is to pair a sale with a coupon. All the items in my pictures I had coupons for so that cuts down my OOP. Some items I even make a profit on in the end.

The Cottonelle is always on sale for $5 each 12 pk, but this week there is a instore coupon (in their savings booklet) for $1 off, that deducts $1 for both packages at once. Then I had coupons for $0.75 each package, bringing the cost down to $3.25 a pack. That's a pretty good deal right there $0.27 a roll. **hint - you can stack a store coupon with a manufacturer's coupon at Walgreens**

The Schick Quatro razors or refills were the most exciting deal this week at Walgreens. They were on sale for $8.99 (from their normal $9.99 price) but gave you 5 RR when you purchase them. Well low and behold there was a $5 coupon that showed up last week on the coupon sites and that makes a $1 profit on that one. There was also a $4 off coupon for the refills making them completely free.

The more I do this the easier it gets. You just have to hold on to the coupons until a sale that makes it a much better price you can live with  or until you have rewards to go toward the purchase.

The purpose of this post was only to show you that you can absolutely get name brand items much much cheaper  and that there are coupons out there for items you use. You just have to pay attention.

Change is Inevitable!

Things change all the time.  The grocery store or manufacturers change the prices. Places change their policies. Job descriptions change. Our tastes and likes all change all the time. The challenge in life is to not get hung up on the changes and just roll with it. One thing I've learnt as a parent is if it's not working, try something else. I see people all the time who are scared to death of change, but miserable in their current situation., stuck and unhappy with the consequences of their actions but unwilling to accept that something has got to change.

For the last couple years I have been constantly working to change myself and become who God wants me to be and be a person that I can be proud of all the time. I realized that I needed to change from the inside out. I realized that I kept doing things and acting ways the same way every day and expecting a different outcome. Isn't that the definition of insanity? To keep doing something the exact same way over and over again expecting a different outcome?  I realized that I kept eating the same way and expected to be thinner. I kept the same routine day in and day out and expected to be more organized and less forgetful.  I treated everyone around me the same way and wondered why they don't treat me with respect in return.

Then one day I realized that I wasn't living the same principles that I was trying to teach my children. I tell them all the time that they are responsible for their own actions and if they treat others better then others will eventually start treating them better. Once I realized I had to take responsibility for every action I make every single day I began to make changes.

I've been gradually changing my diet and my activity levels and began very, very slowly losing weight. I've been room by room and drawer by drawer cleaning and organizing my house. I've been looking for and implementing ways to keep me focused and on task and low and behold my life is becoming less hectic and more organized even though I've actually taken on more responsibilities. (amazing how that happens!!) I've always been a pretty laid back person, or so I thought. I am finding out that I actually thrive on routine and structure and become very agitated and stressed with chaos. Who knew?

So, I finally feel like I have a hold of this homeschooling thing. I can handle the house-cleaning. I am becoming the person I want to be instead of wishful thinking. The flip side of the responsibility coin is that I can take credit for doing something about it. I can be proud........and thank God for his provision and guidance of course.  Are you afraid of change? Or are you fed up with who you are today?

Couponing Haul for July

Last year I began couponing and stocked up on some necessities like body wash and toothpaste and once I had several months worth I stopped couponing. It's been over a year and that supply is long gone. Recently with the rising costs of goods pushing my budget to the limit I decided to get back into it and really focus on saving money. My goal is to stock up on as many items that I can get for free or almost free and make my weekly grocery/household budget stretch even further.

I want to start showing my scores and what I saved and spent so that I can track how well I am doing.

Here is last year's article I wrote on couponing. I still need to go back and finish Part 2.

http://therealmamat.blogspot.com/2010/06/saving-money-rocks-i-am-sure-that-most.html#links

Here's my finds from this week. I suspect that next weeks hauls may be better at the pharmacy but we will see.

Target

3 Vitamin Waters
1 Nexcare Shrek Waterproof Band aids
3 trial size St. Ives Body wash
1 pkg of Paper Mate pens

 Paid $2.47 OOP

CVS

2 Oral B Indicator Brushes
2 Crest Cavity Protection Toothbrushes

Pd $5.00 OOP
GB $4 in extra care bucks
Makes my cost $1

Walgreens

1 pkg Expo Washable markers
3 pkgs Carefree pantyliner
2 boxes ct of 10 number 2 pencils
2 Mitchums Women's Deodorants

Pd $8.65 OOP
GB $4 in extra care bucks
Makes my cost $4.65

That's a total of just over $16 OOP that I spent this week on a whole bunch of items that I actually needed and I got back $8 in rewards to use at a later time. That brings my total cost down to $8.12 for the week on 20 items.  Not too bad if I say so myself.

How are you doing with couponing?

The End of Homeschooling?

Here is an interesting article I found on the End of Homeschooling?  This probably doesn't mean what you think it means.  It's a little long but has some great information on the history of mainstream schooling through history.

The End of Homeschooling

Read the article, then tell me what you think. Are you HOME-schooling or home-SCHOOLing?

Damaging, Words of Death: Gossip

A recent situation in my life has me praying and reaching for the bible even more than usual. In researching some key bible verses online, I came across this site about Gossip and doing the devil's work for him. It has some great information in it.

http://www.towards-success.com/dejnarde_files/bible_study_gossip.htm

The whole article was quite an eye opener for me. Here's the most pertinent part for the situation in my life.

Detect gossip. To stop gossip, you must recognize it. But how? God has provided you with a gossip-detection system. Let's take a look at that system, described in Bible verse Philippians 4:8. The first criteria for proper communication is that it be true. You should not listen to or say anything that is not true. In fact, you or the person telling you should be able to prove that it is true. "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good" (Bible verse I Thessalonians 5:21, KJV). If it can't be proven, it shouldn't be listened to or spoken of.

But what if it is true? Should you get involved? Not unless it's noble. The information should not in any way tarnish the character, name or reputation of another person. Any hint of disrespect should set off an alarm in your mind that shouts "Gossip!" Paul goes even further by declaring that the information must be just. This means you should not discuss or listen to discussions about the sins of others. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," says Bible verse Romans 3:23. "He who covers a transgression seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates the best of friends" (Bible verse Proverbs 17:9).

Another important part of our gossip detection system is purity. The words must be pure. In our sick society, blasphemy and profanity almost have become proper etiquette. "Their throat is an open tomb... whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness" (Bible verses Proverbs 3:13-14).

Keep your ears and mouth pure. Accept only lovely things into your mind ---- things that effect you and others in a positive, uplifting way. Make sure the words you speak and hear are of good report. Bad news bombards us constantly. Human nature seems to thrive on bad news. "For their heart devises violence, and their lips talk of troublemaking" (Bible verse Proverbs 24:2). Paul tells us to avoid bad reports.

Use the gossip detectors of truth, honor, righteousness, purity, loveliness and good reports to stop gossip.

Speak to edify. In the same Bible verse 8 of Philippians 4, Paul says that we should speak words of virtue. Virtuous words are words of excellence and value, words that produce good fruits, that build up the speaker, listener and everyone else.

Speak words of praise ---- words that praise the great works of God. Talk about His great creation in all of his wonderful glory. Talk about God's Work on earth today ---- the Work that's spreading the good news of the Kingdom of God. Speak words of praise about the good in other people. Encourage others to do their best. Comfort other people when they are discouraged.

In short, use your tongue to bring life ---- not death!

What does "Friendship" mean to you?

What does it really mean to be a friend to someone? My sister and I have been having some interesting conversations lately about friends. I guess as I am getting older I am just finding out who my real "friends" are and it's shocking to realize that it's not who you thought.  We were discussing who in our lives we thought we could count on and as we get older and wiser the list continues to get shorter and shorter. Sometimes it can be a hard pill to swallow.

I've always tried to be the best friend I could be and I am examining my actions and motives as well. I don't want to let any one down either.

Here's one quote that kind of resonated with me a little more than usual.

"True friendship isn't about being there when it's convenient; it's about being there when it's not.”

So what does being a TRUE FRIEND mean to you? What do you look for in a good friend? How do you think you've been a good friend?  (answers coming soon and we will revisit this in more detail)

Spring Break!

It figures it would take Spring Break to get me blogging on here again.  The kids are out of school, that includes my homeschooled girls. So no curriculum planning this week. Wahoo! However I do have some papers to get graded before the end of the week.

Since I have a somewhat lighter load this week I am running down my list of spring cleaning and yard projects that I normally don't have time to get done. It's kept me busy....physically so I am getting my daily exercise in... and mentally as well so I am not stressing about some things we have going on in our lives at the moment.

Some of the things I have gotten done this week:

starting my garden, completed my second raised bed, tilled both garden beds
sprayed for bugs around our house
sprayed for weeds around the house
cleaned out the hot tub
bathed the dog
built a shoe rack for our coat closet
completely emptied and cleaned our fish tank (first time in 2 years)
got rid of a lot of clutter around the house
fixed 4 broken sinks in the house by myself
steam cleaned our carpet on the stairs

Still on my list to do this week:

start the seeds for the garden
refinish our kitchen table
clean and paint our kitchen chairs
paint the kids' bathroom
touch up paint in other rooms
repaint baseboards and molding in other parts of the house

That's a lot of things to do.  I don't know. Do you think I will get them all done?

Why do Churches hate on other Churches? Aren't we all on the same team?

This has been bothering me for some time. I see it all the time. I hear the comments and insults. And it doesn't stop with me. My children are even subject to the criticism. You see, I am an Elevator. I go to Elevation Church in Charlotte, NC. I have attended Elevation for more than two years now, since January 2009.


I credit the Lord, Jesus Christ, with my salvation and for moving heaven and earth to get me where I needed to be during one of the hardest seasons in my life. But beyond that I can say that Elevation and Pastor Steven Furtick are the reason that I am here today and that all 5 members of my family are saved by the Grace of God and have all been baptised. God is first, but Elevation was the tool that he used to change our lives.

We were once skeptics of the larger church too. We thought we wanted to be involved in the more traditional church. We thought that we wouldn't like the loud music or the contemporary feel of the large church. Boy, were we wrong. My kids love it, asking to go back every Sunday. Since our journey began with Elevation two years ago I can count on my hands how many times we have missed a service. We look forward to hearing the Lord's word every Sunday and renewing our spirit in fellowship and worship. My whole family has volunteered and my husband is regularly involved in running lights during Sunday morning services.

Here is my issue. We hear all kinds of comments made about Elevation and the worst comments come from other Christians who attend other churches, or worse, from other Pastors. We've heard that Elevation is a cult because of it's magnetic effect and how it draws people to it. We've heard that Elevation has too much money. We even had a man make a comment that he didn't realize we were christian because we attend Elevation. I've heard that all Elevation does is give out t-shirts to the kids. Why would you make such comments? Why do we continue to tear down others instead of building them up? Aren't we all on the same team? Isn't our goal to bring the lost to Jesus? When did we decide that other churches must be wrong because they don't do things the same way as we do?

I am saddened by these comments and its been on my heart for awhile now. We are on the same team people. If people are leaving your church in droves to attend Elevation, don't blame Elevation. Maybe it's time to examine your method. If Elevation's membership each week is increasing exponentially, shouldn't that inspire you to do something to increase membership at your church, not point fingers because your membership is dropping? The money thing irks me. Elevation has too much money? We give to God and he uses Elevation to do amazing things with our money. It inspires us to give more and give sacrificially. Isn't that what God tells us to do? And the t-shirts. Yes we give a t-shirt to each first-time guest. After that you have to volunteer your time with the church to get a shirt that corresponds with the sermon series at that time. Yes the kids and teens really like to get the t-shirts and they collect them like badges or pins of pride, but it gives them something to show for their hard work and volunteer hours. It's a great conversation piece when you are in public and someone asks you about it. No the shirts aren't necessary to teach the Gospel, but it's no different then having a festival or play at church hoping to draw in some non-believers. They aren't necessary either but most churches host them.

It's time to put aside our differences and rejoice in our Saviour. He is the reason and the light. We don't care if you attend Lee Park, Southbrook or any other church. Each Church fills a need in the community. Maybe your calling is different from Elevation's, but that doesn't mean that Elevation is doing something wrong. We are doing what we were called to do. We don't criticize your church or your Pastor, please don't criticize mine or make disparaging remarks about my faith. I am Christian. I love my Lord God with all my heart. I do the best that I can do to walk the straight and narrow though I often fail, but isn't that what God's Grace is all about?

Pastor Furtick is teaching an awesome sermon series on Honor that you should hear. It's called Honorology. It's about giving Honor to those that God tells you to Honor regardless of whether we feel that they've earned it and that there is a difference between honor and respect. Maybe you should listen to it sometime. Maybe we should be honoring our community churches and their Pastors instead of criticizing those who don't do things exactly like us. Pastor Furtick recently did a video called Hey Haters. I have read the comments online that he's Hating on the Haters. If that's what you got out of that video, then I feel sorry for you. The whole point is that we are not going to let haters stop the momentum of this church to reach those far from Christ. He's talking about the ones who nitpick at churches about every little thing from the volume of the music to the colors of the flowers on the pulpit. You know, the ones that church hop from one to the next because the Pastor wouldn't give in to them. He's talking about those that will take one comment out of context and then twist it to mean what they want it to mean instead of listening to the entire message. He's talking about those who judge others before examining their own motives for doing so. What is your motive?

Elevation is doing something amazing in my community. Pastor Steven Furtick is changing lives every day and sticking to his calling, So that people far from God will be filled with life in Christ. Isn't that the point of it all?

Here is the Hey Haters video

Here is the Honorology Series


I hope that maybe this struck a chord with some of you and that I've conveyed my thoughts as I have intended. Lord knows if I haven't, there will be a Hater out there to let me know

Angel of Melody is finally in kickoff mode!

This post is rather long but please bare with me until the end. We need your help!

Angel has had to work hard for all that she has accomplished and though we have a roof over our head and food on the table, we don't always have the money to devote to Angel's music. Music lessons are out of our reach financially and Angel made payments on her second guitar so that she could purchase it. When she decided to attend Camp Electric last summer she had to find a job and make the payments herself so she could attend. We have to find sponsors when we travel for a competition. It doesn't come easy. So out of the realization that others have it even more difficult, Angel of Melody was born.

Angel and I have been brainstorming about this for over a year now. Angel would like to offer scholarships to underprivileged children so that they can attend summer music camps. She wants to help struggling musicians with entrance fees into competitions and maybe even provide instruments for them. We may even form partnerships with music teachers to provide music lessons for those who normally wouldn't be able to afford them.

In our travels with Angel we have seen some amazing talent in our region. There are some incredibly talented kids out there but unfortunately most have no idea how to promote themselves or get their name out there. They need help and direction  and of course encouragement. There goes the second purpose of Angel of Melody. Angel and I would like to have it as a talent listing service that showcases young talent and helps them find an outlet for their talent. This would not be an agency, though that could change in the future. A portion of all proceeds will be put into scholarships and such for needy kids.

We have also discovered that honest to goodness singing competitions are few and far between and even harder to find for those under the age of 18. Angel has competed in many competitions. She always has fun and enjoys the experience. We try to focus on the positive and remember that each time she's on stage she gets a little more comfortable. The issue we have encountered though is that most competitions are created with specific agendas such as finding talent for a local dinner theatre or play. They may be looking for someone with more of an opera or broadway type voice. Even open talent competitions are biased this way. Some even show preference to those who have competed before. Angel competed in 2 different competitions this weekend. Both were affiliated with theatres and both showed obvious preference to those who participated in their productions rather than to true talent or vocal ability.She did great, even going to semi-finals in one, but in the end the prize will go to an actress/actor/singer. We have plans to have a true singing competition, with awards given on vocal talent and not on prior affiliation with the group hosting the contest.

With all this being said, Angel of Melody is finally in it's beginning stages. We have started the Angel of Melody Talent page on Facebook to begin showcasing young talent. We will have our first meeting for the charity this month as well and hopefully form our board of directors at that time.

What can you do to help?  Do you know of any young talent out there that might need help promoting themselves and finding venues to perform at or use their talents? Send them over to http://www.facebook.com/angelofmelodytalent .  Do you know of someone who might be interested in joining us in our cause with the charity? Young adults and mature teens are welcome. This would make a great way to get in your community service hours. Please contact us at angelofmelodytalent@yahoo.com . We need your help! Even if you don't fall into one of those two categories, you can really help us out by going to the Facebook page for Angel of Melody Talent and liking it. Share it on Facebook and help us get the word out. We can't do this without you.

So much for back to routine.

Things got really crazy around here this month. Even more crazy than normal. My sister was in the hospital and I spent lots of time with her and my Mom. Things just settled down when she came home last week. Then we had Angel's 16th birthday party. Since things had been nuts, her actual birthday passed without much fanfare. So after the fact, we decided to orchestrate a surprise party. Things went well and we all had a blast. Thanks so all who came out and surprised her.

We are going into busy season with Angel and all her performances and competitions so that will make things fun around here. However I am trying to get back into routine. Homeschooling has been really simple the last few weeks. The girls were working on a project that incorporated both History and Communication Skills so starting Monday we will be switching over to Math and Science. The project was something I had been wanting to do with them and it made it easier for them to work on their own and freed my time to be at the hospital. Now it's buckle down time with the Math. I also really need to think ahead a little and order testing materials for the girls. Alyssa plans to apply to a local Magnet high school for next year so I have to have the testing on time.

Hope your month has been good and that you and yours are healthy and well.

What does "I'm Sorry" mean to you?

I was just writing a condolences message to a classmate that lost a sibling unexpectedly and I was thinking about the phrase "I am sorry for your loss."  This made me think about how people have such a hard time saying "I'm sorry" when they've done something wrong, but they say "I'm sorry for your loss" even when they don't have a clue what the person is going through or even if they know them at all. I think that "I'm sorry" should be more used in our daily conversation. We need to change what it means to us. It shouldn't be just an admittance of guilt or wrong-doing. That's what makes it so hard to say. We need to change our perspective of the words. When you are giving your condolences to someone you are saying "I am sorry for the way you are feeling," even though I had nothing to do with what made you feel that way. I sympathize with your pain. Even though sometimes I think we NEED to admit our own short comings and admit that we messed up, I think we need to change our perspective of the words. We need to focus more on the other person's feelings and remember that it's all about them. I am sorry for the way you are feeling. That wasn't my intentions. I sympathize with your pain. It's not about me. Then "I'm sorry" may come alot quicker and more often in our day to day lives. What do you think? What does "I'm Sorry" mean to you?

This past week has been spent getting back into routine and getting caught up on housecleaning. I completely cleaned my bedroom, my bathroom and reorganized my closet. I did lots of laundry, about 10 loads; towels, sheets, bedspreads etc.  I guess I kind of had the spring cleaning bug. I do feel like someone in my house has been sick pretty much every day since the  beginning of November and I felt like I needed to reclean and sanitize things like bedspreads and pillows and bedrooms to maybe knock all of the sickness out. I know it felt good to have it clean. I cleaned so much until my whole body was sore.

Then we had company over from out of town. One of my hubby's old high school friends. He is a Pastor in New England and they came to visit with his wife and 6 kids. Such a beautiful family and we had a great time. It really made my DH and I realize how much we have become home-bodies. It was so nice to hang out with Godly people and the kids had a great time too.

Then there was the homeschooling. The rest of my week was spent working with the girls. I am a little behind in the grading and the end of the grading period is this week. I have to get caught up and still keep up with the lesson plans at the same time. I decided after Christmas break that I was adding the memorization of Bible verses to the girls lesson plans. They will have one verse a week to memorize and then be graded on. I think they will appreciate it later in life because the verses really do stick with you.

So that's where I was this week.  Maybe later I will tell you what I have planned for this week.

Saturday rant!

I got this in an email this morning and thought it pretty much hit the nail on the head. I think the main issue with society today is that no one wants to take responsibility for their own actions. Everyone wants to blame someone else for their choices. Here's the email.

HIGH SCHOOL
1957 vs. 2010

Scenario 1:
Jack goes quail hunting before school and then pulls into the school parking lot with his shotgun in his truck's gun rack.
1957 - Vice Principal comes over, looks at Jack's shotgun, goes to his car and gets his shotgun to show Jack.
2010 - School goes into lock down, FBI called, Jack hauled off to jail and never sees his truck or gun again.
Counselors called in for traumatized students and teachers.


Scenario 2:
Buster and Dale get into a fist fight after school.
1957 - Crowd gathers. Buster wins. Buster and Dale shake hands and end up buddies.
2010 - Police called and SWAT team arrives -- they arrest both Buster and Dale. They are both charged them with assault and both expelled even though Buster started it.



Scenario 3:
Jeffrey will not be still in class, he disrupts other students.
1957 - Jeffrey sent to the Principal's office and given a good paddling by the Principal. He then returns to class, sits still and does not disrupt class again.
2010 - Jeffrey is given huge doses of Ritalin. He becomes a zombie. He is then tested for ADD. The family gets extra money (SSI) from the government because Jeffrey has a disability.


Scenario 4:
Billy breaks a window in his neighbor's car and his Dad gives him a whipping with his belt.
1957 - Billy is more careful next time, grows up normal, goes to college and becomes a successful businessman.
2010 - Billy's dad is arrested for child abuse. Billy is removed to foster care and joins a gang. The state psychologist is told by Billy's sister that she remembers being abused herself and their dad goes to prison. Billy's mom has an affair with the psychologist.



Scenario 5:
Mark gets a headache and takes some aspirin to school.
1957- Mark shares his aspirin with the Principal out on the smoking dock
2010- The police are called and Mark is expelled from school for drug violations. His car is then searched for drugs and weapons.


Scenario 6:
Pedro fails high school English.
1957-Pedro goes to summer school, passes English and goes to college.
2010- Pedro's cause is taken up by state.
Newspaper articles appear nationally explaining that teaching English as a requirement for graduation is racist..
ACLU files class action lawsuit against the state school system and Pedro's English teacher. English is then banned from core curriculum. Pedro is given his diploma anyway but ends up mowing lawns for a living because he cannot speak English.



Scenario 7:
Johnny takes apart leftover firecrackers from the Fourth of July, puts them in a model airplane paint bottle and blows up a red ant bed.
1957 - Ants die.
2010 - ATF, Homeland Security and the FBI are all called. Johnny is charged with domestic terrorism. The FBI investigates his parents -- and all siblings are removed from their home and all computers are confiscated. Johnny's dad is placed on a terror watch list and is never allowed to fly again.


Scenario 8:
Johnny falls while running during recess and scrapes his knee He is found crying by his teacher, Mary . Mary hugs him to comfort him.
1957 - In a short time, Johnny feels better and goes on playing.
2010 - Mary is accused of being a sexual predator and loses her job. She faces 3 years in State Prison. Johnny undergoes 5 years of therapy..

I suck at this!

Seriously, I think I suck at blogging. I can't seem to wrap it into my daily routine no matter how hard I try. Things just never seem to go as planned. Life as a mother of 3, a housewife, and homeschool teacher to two is just very unpredictable and chaotic. I have resigned myself to this. So I expect the interuptions and that things will never go smoothly. I just can't seem to deal with the fact that I can't get everything done I need to be doing in the timeframe I want.

So about the time I got into my homeschool routine and felt like I had things under control it was Christmas season. I had so many projects to finish (home-made gifts).  We took a long break during December during which time I also got sick. Flash forward to the first week of January, trying to get back into routine. I was still sick. Finally decided to visit the doctor and take care of it. Then the second week guess what happens...a major snow storm and my 10 year old has been home all week. So Monday will be the 3rd week of the new year and 3rd week back to school. Technically we should be wrapping up the semester, but we are definitely not there.  Guess it will all work out, we will just have to extend the end of the semester.

So once again I will attempt to do better at this blogging thing. There is so much I want to write about.