I have been thinking of ways to be more frugal lately. In light of our recent "announcement, I am thinking now is a good time to actually do it. I haven't sat down to really look at things that could be eliminated yet, but I plan too. However, I did start this morning when I was making my grocery list. Before I made my list, I did a quick kitchen inventory. I never do that before I go to the store. I just buy more stuff to shove in the freezer or pantry. I usually spend about $200 every two weeks at the grocery store, and figured it would be that much again. Well, after my inventory, I was shocked at all the stuff we already have. In my freezer alone there is enough food for at least a weeks worth of meals. My pantry has tons of can goods, rice, and pasta too! So I made a list of all the possible meals. I wont have to buy a single thing for dinner at the store. We are completely covered in that area. I still need the basics - milk, bread, cheese, but that wont be close to the $200 I have budgeted! I am so excited. My goal is to take the extra that we have and put it away.
We are really going to crack down around here. I am talking peanut butter sandwiches and beans. LOL! Seriously, my kids favorite meal consist of Ramen noodles and goldfish. I can handle that! I may have to buy stock in vitamins, but heck, it is cheaper right? Just kidding, but fortunately, my family is easy when it comes to eating cheaply. I can't wait to see the savings!
Now I will have to look at how we can cut back in other ways. We don't live extravagantly as it is, so it might be pretty hard. My "splurge" is coffee, but I am totally equipped to make it at home, so that will be ok. I don't get manicures or pedicures. I do all of our hair cutting/coloring, so that already saves money. I am not quite ready to give up my cell phone, but it may come to that too.
If anyone has any great tips, I am open to hearing them! Please share whatever you can!
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Monday, June 8, 2009
CUTE LITTLE PICTURE
I found this during some of my recent stalking on the net. I thought it was too cute, and oh so appropriate.
I was telling my friends Haley and Pam today that I feel like an elephant. I am about to be pregnant for 22 months! LOL! I can handle 22 months, lord willing it wont be longer! Wonder if I can do bedrest this time?
I was telling my friends Haley and Pam today that I feel like an elephant. I am about to be pregnant for 22 months! LOL! I can handle 22 months, lord willing it wont be longer! Wonder if I can do bedrest this time?
THE BEGINNING
I’ll share our story from the beginning. I began to feel the calling to adopt in the summer of 2007. I had just given birth to our third child in 4 years. I am not even really sure how it all began. There was one family in our church at the time that had a little girl from China, but that was the only real exposure that I had to adoption. Needless to say, with our already full home, my husband was a little less enthusiastic about the idea of more children.
As time went on, my "vision" became more like a burden. A heart breaking, consuming burden. I pleaded with my husband to consider bringing home a child. His heart had not budged. Meanwhile, several more Chinese children became a part of our church family, two with special needs. My heart literally ached. The fall of last year was the absolute moment for me - we would adopt. I committed to praying and fasting for a changed heart and open doors. It seemed that God was confirming with me that this was, indeed, the road we were suppose to take. However, He didn't seem to be sharing that vision with my husband. The more I prayed, the more my heart became attached. Attached to adoption, yes, but attached to an actual little girl. MY little girl. Even though I didn't know her name, or had seen her face, I knew she was ours. I prayed for her just like I prayed for my other children. I had faith that our little girl would one day come home.
Well, fast forward to this week. My husband and I talked again, and I was hit with the same wall. I literally wept before him and shared how burden my heart was. I told him about how I had gone from the vision of adoption to actually attaching myself to a very real, living little girl. He was very compassionate, but just didn't believe that it was right for our family. He told me that God would have to change his heart if this was really meant to be. The next morning he approached me asking *if* we were to adopt, how in the world would we afford it. I told him that I trusted Jesus to provide. I told him that Jesus had given me the vision, I trusted him to give me the provision. Within a couple of hours after our talk, we talked again. My sweet husband told me that he would commit to bringing our girl home. He needed a little bit of time to get used to the idea, but he was 100% on board!
I have never in my life been so moved by my precious Jesus. I had a huge mountain in the way of my vision (my longing) for years. He moved it. His heart is for the orphan, and he is working on my little girl's behalf. He is giving her hope for a future. There are still so many unknowns on our process - agency? A BIG one - money? Travel? China's wait times? But He holds the future in His hands. I know He is not bound by time, and His time is perfect.
We will be persuing China's waiting child program. Another answered prayer - my husband would have never considered special needs before either. Now we are both open and 100% willing to bring home a child that is not an infant, which may have some special needs.
Thanks for following our journey! YIPPEE JESUS!
As time went on, my "vision" became more like a burden. A heart breaking, consuming burden. I pleaded with my husband to consider bringing home a child. His heart had not budged. Meanwhile, several more Chinese children became a part of our church family, two with special needs. My heart literally ached. The fall of last year was the absolute moment for me - we would adopt. I committed to praying and fasting for a changed heart and open doors. It seemed that God was confirming with me that this was, indeed, the road we were suppose to take. However, He didn't seem to be sharing that vision with my husband. The more I prayed, the more my heart became attached. Attached to adoption, yes, but attached to an actual little girl. MY little girl. Even though I didn't know her name, or had seen her face, I knew she was ours. I prayed for her just like I prayed for my other children. I had faith that our little girl would one day come home.
Well, fast forward to this week. My husband and I talked again, and I was hit with the same wall. I literally wept before him and shared how burden my heart was. I told him about how I had gone from the vision of adoption to actually attaching myself to a very real, living little girl. He was very compassionate, but just didn't believe that it was right for our family. He told me that God would have to change his heart if this was really meant to be. The next morning he approached me asking *if* we were to adopt, how in the world would we afford it. I told him that I trusted Jesus to provide. I told him that Jesus had given me the vision, I trusted him to give me the provision. Within a couple of hours after our talk, we talked again. My sweet husband told me that he would commit to bringing our girl home. He needed a little bit of time to get used to the idea, but he was 100% on board!
I have never in my life been so moved by my precious Jesus. I had a huge mountain in the way of my vision (my longing) for years. He moved it. His heart is for the orphan, and he is working on my little girl's behalf. He is giving her hope for a future. There are still so many unknowns on our process - agency? A BIG one - money? Travel? China's wait times? But He holds the future in His hands. I know He is not bound by time, and His time is perfect.
We will be persuing China's waiting child program. Another answered prayer - my husband would have never considered special needs before either. Now we are both open and 100% willing to bring home a child that is not an infant, which may have some special needs.
Thanks for following our journey! YIPPEE JESUS!
OUR BIG ANNOUNCEMENT
First of all, I am not pregnant, though I might as well be. Gosh, I have butterflies just typing this post up. I am praying as I type this, for Jesus to guide my words and help me share in a way that will open our friends and families hearts.
We have been praying for quite some time now (close to 2 years) about adoption and God's plan for our lives regarding adoption. I have felt the burden for a long time, and just recently, Brad began to feel the burden as well. We both believe that Jesus is leading us to bring a little girl home from China.
So, our family is growing! We have absolutely **NO** idea how we will pull this off. We have no idea where the money is going to come from. We have no idea where to even begin. Honestly though, we believe where Jesus has given us a vision, he will also give us the provision.
I can say with 100% certainty that we have never taken such a huge leap of faith. We understand that we have a house full already. We understand that we do not have $35,000 lying around (actually, we don't even have $10 lying around). We understand that there are a lot of mountains standing in our way. However, there is no denying it is 100% Jesus leading us to bring our little girl home. I believe that when all of it works out, Jesus will receive full Glory. Only He can provide in the ways we need.
We are scared, overwhelmed, and down right crazy for even thinking about this. But, we are trusting Jesus. His heart is for the orphan. We believe by bringing a little girl home, we are honoring Him.
Oh, one more thing - she will have some special needs, and she is likely to be older. We aren't bringing home a perfectly, healthy baby. We are bringing home a little girl that is wondering when her mommy and daddy are coming. A little girl that is longing to be HOME. A little girl that doesn't know what it's like to be tucked in at night, to feel a hug from someone that loves her unconditionally. A little girl that would never have a chance to know Jesus if we didn't bring her home.
How can we say no to Him? We can't.
If you all would like to follow our adoption journey, please feel free! We (and I mean ME) will be keeping a blog, much like this one at Hearts Filled With Hope. We would love for you to join us there. I thought about just combining the two blogs, but I will keep them separate so this one doesn't get bogged down with adoption stuff.
If you feel so inclined to pray for us, we would all appreciate it. We have a lot of things to work out and prepare for. So please, if you get a second, lift our family up in prayer as we embarked on this *long*, crazy, and exciting journey! Thank you!
We have been praying for quite some time now (close to 2 years) about adoption and God's plan for our lives regarding adoption. I have felt the burden for a long time, and just recently, Brad began to feel the burden as well. We both believe that Jesus is leading us to bring a little girl home from China.
So, our family is growing! We have absolutely **NO** idea how we will pull this off. We have no idea where the money is going to come from. We have no idea where to even begin. Honestly though, we believe where Jesus has given us a vision, he will also give us the provision.
I can say with 100% certainty that we have never taken such a huge leap of faith. We understand that we have a house full already. We understand that we do not have $35,000 lying around (actually, we don't even have $10 lying around). We understand that there are a lot of mountains standing in our way. However, there is no denying it is 100% Jesus leading us to bring our little girl home. I believe that when all of it works out, Jesus will receive full Glory. Only He can provide in the ways we need.
We are scared, overwhelmed, and down right crazy for even thinking about this. But, we are trusting Jesus. His heart is for the orphan. We believe by bringing a little girl home, we are honoring Him.
Oh, one more thing - she will have some special needs, and she is likely to be older. We aren't bringing home a perfectly, healthy baby. We are bringing home a little girl that is wondering when her mommy and daddy are coming. A little girl that is longing to be HOME. A little girl that doesn't know what it's like to be tucked in at night, to feel a hug from someone that loves her unconditionally. A little girl that would never have a chance to know Jesus if we didn't bring her home.
How can we say no to Him? We can't.
If you all would like to follow our adoption journey, please feel free! We (and I mean ME) will be keeping a blog, much like this one at Hearts Filled With Hope. We would love for you to join us there. I thought about just combining the two blogs, but I will keep them separate so this one doesn't get bogged down with adoption stuff.
If you feel so inclined to pray for us, we would all appreciate it. We have a lot of things to work out and prepare for. So please, if you get a second, lift our family up in prayer as we embarked on this *long*, crazy, and exciting journey! Thank you!
Thursday, June 4, 2009
**SHUDDER**
I am about to confess something. I have an unnatural fear of FROGS. What I mean to say is I am not just scared of them, I *hate* them. I know hate is a strong word, blah, blah, but seriously though, I hate them. I can't help it. It is a lifelong thing for me. Little ones, big ones, green ones, brown ones, I don't discriminate.
I didn't realize until recently that we are currently in the middle of frog mating season. Oh lord, I literally just shivered. Anyway, frog mating season + large pool = my own personal hell. All night, every night, all I hear are those stinkin frogs calling to each other. Brad gets up in the morning and goes out to work on the pool, and he always comes in telling me stories of frogs caught in the skimmer. Or, frogs mating out there. Is. He. Trying. To. Kill. Me?
Last night, Brad had to go outside to get something out of the car. He opened the front door and said, "Oh hey frog." All nonchalant like. I gasped and went running to the door. What did he mean? Why is he talking to a frog in the front of the house? All these thoughts were running through my head. I get to the door and low and behold - the nastiest, bumpiest, grossest, biggest FROG. On my front porch. Brad just walked by it like that was a completely normal thing to do. Freak. Anyway, I grabbed my camera and decided to try to conquer my fear, and take its picture. So I get down and start snapping pictures of it (him? He looked like a him. If it were a her, I feel terrible for her. So grotesque and bumpy...). Keep in mind that the storm door was between us - protecting me and him. I would have never been that close to a stupid frog without a glass barrier. So here he is, in all of his nastiness:
Just to let you know - I did NOT conquer my fear or cure my hatred. If anything those feeling became more intense. Those bumps! SHUDDER.
I didn't realize until recently that we are currently in the middle of frog mating season. Oh lord, I literally just shivered. Anyway, frog mating season + large pool = my own personal hell. All night, every night, all I hear are those stinkin frogs calling to each other. Brad gets up in the morning and goes out to work on the pool, and he always comes in telling me stories of frogs caught in the skimmer. Or, frogs mating out there. Is. He. Trying. To. Kill. Me?
Last night, Brad had to go outside to get something out of the car. He opened the front door and said, "Oh hey frog." All nonchalant like. I gasped and went running to the door. What did he mean? Why is he talking to a frog in the front of the house? All these thoughts were running through my head. I get to the door and low and behold - the nastiest, bumpiest, grossest, biggest FROG. On my front porch. Brad just walked by it like that was a completely normal thing to do. Freak. Anyway, I grabbed my camera and decided to try to conquer my fear, and take its picture. So I get down and start snapping pictures of it (him? He looked like a him. If it were a her, I feel terrible for her. So grotesque and bumpy...). Keep in mind that the storm door was between us - protecting me and him. I would have never been that close to a stupid frog without a glass barrier. So here he is, in all of his nastiness:
Just to let you know - I did NOT conquer my fear or cure my hatred. If anything those feeling became more intense. Those bumps! SHUDDER.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
WANT A CHANCE TO WIN?
I recently "met" a new bloggy friend named, Lori. Lori is the mommy to four kids - two older boys, gorgeous little Lucy Joy and beautiful Shu Li waiting in China. Lori's blog inspires me and in the very short time I have "known" her, she has already been so encouraging! I look forward to getting to know her better!
Anyway, she is having an awesome giveaway to help raise funds to bring Shu Li home. She has some beautiful purses/bags and a gorgeous quilt she made herself that she is raffling away! Head over to her blog and check out the treasures (the prizes and the kids!) at JOY Unspeakable.
Anyway, she is having an awesome giveaway to help raise funds to bring Shu Li home. She has some beautiful purses/bags and a gorgeous quilt she made herself that she is raffling away! Head over to her blog and check out the treasures (the prizes and the kids!) at JOY Unspeakable.
Monday, June 1, 2009
RANTASTIC
I just have to rant, and with this post, you get two-fer-one. That's right a double feature. Up first - the weather. What is going on with our weather? Maybe Mr. WeatherMan hasn't gotten the memo that it is June 1st. I know it is technically not summer yet. I understand that in a months time, I am going to be posting about how hot and miserable I am. In the meantime though, I am complaining about how not hot it is. The cooler temps paired with an endless amount of rain is starting to make me grumpy. I wish I could have a word with the idiot that dreamed up global warming, because I would give him a piece of my mind. I am going to make up a thing called Global Cooling. It would make more sense where I live. So everyday we get up and check the forecast, hoping, praying for warmer, drier weather. Because sometimes you buy a house for this:
And it just sits in the back yard and taunts us. Day after day.
Rant number two - A little history first. I had a skin cancer removed over a year ago on my back. Fine, or so I thought. It came back. I had it removed again. This time the borders weren't clear, so I went back for a third time. Now I am sporting 18(I originally thought less)stitches. The cut is well over two inches in length. I was going to post a photo, you know as a scare tactic, but it is pretty gross. I guess I will spare you the gory visual image, LOL. So, all of that to say, WEAR SUNSCREEN people. Make sure your children wear sunscreen. It could have been a lot worse for me. Honestly, even though it wasn't as bad as it could have been, it certainly wasn't enjoyable. I never really valued sunscreen. I certainly never wore it. That isn't the case anymore. So please protect yourself.
Ok, rant over. Sometimes you just have to though, ya know?
And it just sits in the back yard and taunts us. Day after day.
Rant number two - A little history first. I had a skin cancer removed over a year ago on my back. Fine, or so I thought. It came back. I had it removed again. This time the borders weren't clear, so I went back for a third time. Now I am sporting 18(I originally thought less)stitches. The cut is well over two inches in length. I was going to post a photo, you know as a scare tactic, but it is pretty gross. I guess I will spare you the gory visual image, LOL. So, all of that to say, WEAR SUNSCREEN people. Make sure your children wear sunscreen. It could have been a lot worse for me. Honestly, even though it wasn't as bad as it could have been, it certainly wasn't enjoyable. I never really valued sunscreen. I certainly never wore it. That isn't the case anymore. So please protect yourself.
Ok, rant over. Sometimes you just have to though, ya know?
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