Happy Year!

Happy Birthday!





Happy Spring!




Happy Summer!




Happy Halloween!





Happy Thanksgiving!
As promised, the a video of our crazy Christmas Sock exchange:





Merry Christmas!






Happy New Year?




Happy Year!

Another Krazy Coupon Lady and proud of it!

Did any of you watched the show last night on TLC about Extreme Couponing? I was just introduced to couponing two months ago and let me tell you something, I have saved SOOOO much money! I'm still new at this so bear with me because my deals are definitely not as good as those Extreme Couponers. But, I'm satisfied! I haven't paid more than $1 on cereal in two months, I haven't paid for toothpaste in two months, and today I got my Pampers diapers cheaper than you can get at Costco! (Beat that Costco!)

Here's my Rite-Aid trip today:



Total Spent: $24.72 + tax (PLUS I have $5 in Up rewards coupons for next week's shopping trip - so really, I spent less than $20.) I added it all up and my total savings was $88.50! (Did you see my two packs of Pampers in there? That alone is more than $20.)

Do you coupon?

A day in the life of a SAHM

(For those of you just tuning in to my blog, here's an update: I quit my job to be a SAHM (Stay at Home Momma) because my husband was offered a lead pastoral position. So my husband and I moved our family across the state and now we're so blessed to be living in the church's parsonage)

What have I been up to? Well today I woke up at "a time". A say "a time" because I still haven't unpacked the alarm clock which was primarily used for waking me up to go to my work outside of home. Now I have an all natural alarm clock (trying to stay green these days hee hee) with the sound of my 20 month old talking up a storm as he wakes up every day. I'd much rather hear his cute little voice than "BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!"....so anyway I never looked at the clock to see what time it was that I awoke. After that I cooked Ike a wholesome breakfast consisting of eggs, toast with raspberry jam and bananas (he says banan an na's...so cute). Then I cleaned him up, got him dressed and ready to go with daddy to the church next door for some morning time. Morning time is for all of us really. It gives daddy some Ike time, mommy some shower time, and Ike some "go" time ("go" means anything to do with leaving the house which is super fun for him these days). After a shower and a cup of coffee...well half a cup of coffee...Isaac was back home for some play time. Isaac is in LOVE with his train table these days. And his favorite show right now is Thomas. He's picked up some sayings from the show which he pretends with while he's chuffing his trains around on the table. His favorite saying is "Faster! Faster!" I played with him for a bit and then put some laundry away. Then he was down for a nap.

I haven't quite developed a daily routine yet as we are all still trying to get settled in and unpacked. A routine is slowly developing though. The first half hour of his nap is dishes and cleaning up from morning toy extravaganza's. If I don't do this it piles up...especially because we only have a manual dish washer *eh hem* me and my pretty little hands. After I clean up I have some me time for about 40 minutes (watching anything crafty on the 'ol boob tube) until the guilt of sitting sits in and then I get up to "do something". Today that "something" was more laundry and cleaning of the bedroom. We also don't have a washer which means I can't do laundry every day which means we have to wash it at the laundry mat once a week which means I have a weeks worth of laundry to fold and put away every week. But this is soon to change as the church is looking for a new washer for us.

After nap time was lunch time and then off to the grocery store. I've been inspired to do couponing. I went to a mom's night out thing hosted by another church the next town over where this lady took a table full of groceries and a receipt that went from her head all the way down to the ground and showed us how she only spent $6. Items like two jumbo pack of Huggies diapers, two sticks of deoderant, cover girl make up, band aids, food, etc. etc. and SHE ONLY SPENT SIX DOLLARS! I immediately was like, "I'm totally clipping coupons". It's slow going for me as I have never been a coupon clipper but this is exciting stuff people! I follow several blogs who basically tell me what the great deals are and then every Wednesday is my shopping day. Today I spent $80 on groceries and saved $47. Not that bad for a first try! I've always been a really thrifty shopper so this is right up my ally.

After shopping it up at the local Safeway, it was time to head back home. I made dinner (chicken baked with cheesy scalloped potatoes and green beans with almond slices...super easy dinner to just whip up after a full day and feel like you didn't cook). After dinner was more play time as a family and then Isaac was off to bed. I listened to my hubby's run-through of this weekend's sermon, practiced my guitar for a bit and now I sit here telling you all about my day.

Life's pretty exciting right now. Like any job I've had in the past, I have some learning curves and adjustments to make. But I'm liking my new job as SAHM. I am SAHM. Ha-ha...I just thought of that. Get it - I am Sam the movie...I am SAHM... *crickets chirping* :)

Tomorrow is another day, the snow is still on the ground so there's still one more day we get to play in it. And I'm so excited to wake up to the sound of my son's jibber jabber. I'm not working for money but I can still do it!

\\

Gha! Thanksgiving is in 1 1/2 WEEKS?!

Seriously? This can't be true!

With the move to Sunnyside and my new position as a SAHM (Stay at Home Mom) I have completely lost track of time. When I realized last night that Thanksgiving was next week the first thought that popped into my brain was "SHOOT! I need to get my craft room done so that I can make some awesome Christmas presents." My second thought was *duh duh duhhhhh* BLACK FRIDAY Christmas shopping. I've already looked at some of the ads to find the best dealie-o's for Isaac's presents. Yes I'm a Black Friday shopper. Here's the deal:

Every Thanksgiving we go to Portland to visit's Cam's side of the family. (side note: his parents had him pretty young so all of the cousins our age are actually 2nd cousins, Aunts and Uncles our parent's age are our Great Aunts and Uncles...and so on. So we have a lot of family and a lot of generations that get together every year...it's seriously a blast!) Every Thanksgiving someone brings a newspaper filled with all the Black Friday ads. After turkey and in between Ping Pong (you don't mess around with Ping Pong in this family), fooze ball, cherry pie, scategories, and pictures on the lap top (someone always has pictures to share), all the girls sit around the table and look through to find the best deals. One year, someone didn't bring a newspaper and we ended up driving around town for an hour trying to find one (THIS IS SERIOUS BUSINESS...I'll post a video soon). Then we're up at 4:30 am Friday morning. The most important thing on Friday morning is to hit up Fred Meyer's sock sale to find our yearly supply of socks for the family. AND, also, to find Christmas socks for our annual Christmas Sock Exchange (which has turned pretty violent over the years). After Fred's we hit up other stores and are usually back in time for lunch (eh hem...nap).

Now we aren't super crazy and stand in line for hours to get trampled on by crowds. We just look for a discount and only shop for things we need (like socks). Usually there's a couple of different groups going out so we tag team with our lists. It's easier to ask mom-in-law to pick up that one item at Kohls so I don't have to hit up every store.

This is a great way to spend time with my family. And I soak up every crazy little minute with them because I know it will be a while before I get to see them all again.

On this year's list:

A battery powered ATV for the Ikester
Thomas train stuff
Socks
A new set of dishes (after 10 years, our dishes are pretty sparse and chipped)
Those craft cubbies you can get at Michaels
3-piece Alpine lite up tree set (mine got damaged in the basement when it flooded last year :( )
...and of course I always pick up a few $2-$5 dvd's

We'll see if I can spend less than $100! I usually do ;)


May the "Happy Holidays" begin!

Here's some pics from last year's Thanksgiving (look at how ginormous Ike's gotten)!

Thanksgiving 2009

Keep on the Sunnyside of Life

Have you ever had a calling from God that tells you to go somewhere you would have never dreamed of going? My husband and I like to call this a Moses moment. God calls you, you say, "nuh uh...send someone else". But then God gives you exactly what you need to get the job done, including the heart and desire for it.

Our family is uprooting from Bellingham, WA to Sunnyside, WA. This is our last week here in Bellingham. This has been our home for almost 11 years. We've built a community and have so much love in and for this little town. But God wants to spread our wings and fly to Sunnyside where my hubby will be Senior Pastor for a lovely little church.

This calling started by a conversation over coffee with our Church of God regional representative about 8 months ago. We were sitting in our local Starbucks discussing possibilities for ministry when he said, "I have two places in mind that I think you would be perfect fits for, Sunnyside and SE Oregon." Both of which we politely said thanks but no thanks to. We'd like to stay west coastal if possible. Then about three months ago my husband received an e-mail from him asking, once again, to prayerfully consider Sunnyside. Hubby and I asked eachother if we felt called and both of us agreed, "no". However, it was on our hearts for a couple of nights. I finally took the liberty of saying to hubby that it wouldn't hurt to apply for the position...after all it seems like the subtle promptings and timing were from God. See the way God works in our lives is he waits until the last minute. Not His last minute, but ours. Hubby's current Americorps position was up last Wednesday and we could not make ends meet without that income. Hubby was applying for positions he was more than qualified for and wasn't even getting calls back. We had faith that God had something in mind. Hubby went through the interview process and after all my nails were gone from all the biting and was finally affirmed.

During the three months of waiting my heart grew for this new community. What once was a "thanks but no thanks" moment, is now a "yes please!" I am so super excited to see what God can do in this community. Although I am going to dearly miss my loved ones here. I know the foundation we have built here in Bellingham will stay strong. It was built on rock, not sand.

Today was more than liekly my last day at our home church, my last service project Sunday, my last Candy Walk here in Bellingham. It is bitter sweet for sure but, as Arnold would put it, "I'll be baack" for visits.

Confessions

Alright - so you know I'm a pastor's wife. Not the stereo-typed pastor's wife. I keep a dirty house (but my heart's in the right place for a clean one), I cuss (although I've altered my cussing to protect my son's ears), I don't play the piano - I play the guitar (I have a Fender acoustic and electric), I listen to every type of music including rap (yes, I have the new Eminem album), and I will pass gas in front of my friends. There. I said it. BUT what you get from me is a woman who loves God with all her heart, who loves fellowship with other women, loves listening to others praises and struggles, loves to pray and be in God's word. I'm working on my down falls, like cussing, but most of my down falls keep me real. When you see me on Sunday, you get the real, authentic, me. You can tell me anything and know I won't judge, primarily because I've already probably been there done that.

So, does this make me good enough to be a pastor's wife? I struggled with this question for a long time. But I came to the conclusion that God made me the way I am so it's his fault anyway right? No, I'm just kidding. What I realized was that yes, there's always room for improvement. And I'm humble enough to admit that. But God has placed me in this roll of servitude. God knew that one day I would marry a man whose life would be called into ministry and that I would be his wife. God has called both of us into this ministry and God knows we are the best fit for wherever he places us. And that I'm confident in. I'm confident in myself because God's confident in me and anytime I think otherwise, I visualize the "whack-a-mole" arcade game. But instead of moles, Satan is there and I whack him back down into his mole hole...while yelling out "WHACK-A-DEVIL! Game over."

So if you're a pastor's wife and struggle with your roll, please leave me a comment. We need to support each other! There can be so much pressure on you to be the stereo-type.


Quote of the day:

"I am what I am"
-Poppeye

Does this happen to you?

If so, you may be married to a person of the male human species. Here are some helpful instructions to help coaching:

First, remove empty TP roll:

Second, throw away empty TP roll in garbage can located directly under TP Roll holder:


Next, carefully slide TP roll (which has already been conveniently removed from packaging located under bathroom sink by member of male species) and place on empty TP roll holder:


Last, put TP roll on TP roll holder back in TP roll holder hardware:


Tada! You now have yourself a happy wife. :)

Educated Idiot

A letter I received at work this week from an angry provider who is balance billing one of our members. To protect any personal health information and the Educated Idiot's name, I have left the specifics out, however (eh hem... how ever) EVERYTHING else is exactly the same as what was written to me:

"Dear ____:

I am in receipt of your letter regarding the above case.
I think your analysis regarding the payment is inaccurate. This patient came to my office on [date]. We told her and her husband that we were not contracted with your insurance company, how ever husband insisted that other physicians that had seen her even though were not member of Sterling they accepted the insurance and they got paid. I did not that was proper and I told him that we have to charge his wife our cash price if she wants to be seen by me on that date. He then gave me a check for [the amount] but at my concern for this population I returned the check to him. Obviously they were satisfied and they returned to my office again on [later date].

Now after 7 months, and my proper care for [patient] you are asking me to pay you money. I am sorry to advise you that I am an educated neurosurgeon, and running expensive office. Not charging the patent who has come to my office on her accord, and needing care I have done the proper thing and taken care of her, and now returning money to you seems inappropriate.

Sincerely,
Educated Idiot

This little light of mine...I'm going to let it shine!

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light not our darkness that frightens us. We ask ourselves 'who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

~Marianne Williamson~

Name that Shoe!

I am struggling with what to call my hand-made booties. Here's what I'v come up with:

"Little Baby Shoo Shoo's"...you know like little bunny foo foo (but there's already Baby ShooShoo out there...close but not the same)
"Baby Steps" (There is a company that has one shoe called Baby Steps and there is a Bronzing company called Baby Steps, however they do not make booties)

Personally I'm liking "Baby Steps".

What are your thoughts? If someone comes up with a better name and I decide to go with it, I'll send you a pair of booties for free! So get creative and leave me a comment :)

Look How Big I've gotten

Incredible DJ Earworm

I posted his 2009 video New Years of 2009 and completely forgot about this guy! Here's his 2010 New Year's video. Enjoy!

First Pair Sold

These little Mary Jane's are for a co-worker's granddaughter for Easter. She's 2 and a half and loves to play dress-up and loves pink. She's a girly-girl and these shoes are just what she needs ;)

I got the idea about 6 months ago to start making baby booties. It utilizes my creativity, is easy to do and takes hardly any time at all to make. Time is what I don't have being a full-time working mom of a one-year-old. I am working my inventory up to sell these on Etsy. In the mean time, if you would like any custom made, leave me a comment and I'll get working on them!

Cheers!







These shoes were a rendition of a pattern I bought from ithinksew.com

Jelly Roll Ups

When I was a kid, my favorite treat was something my mom made for me called Jelly Roll Ups. It's simple really.

Suffering

To celebrate the birth day of our son, Isaac, we were all blessed with colds in our noses. All three of us got big bang explosive snot simultaneously. It hit Isaac first the evening prior to his first birthday party and within 24 hours, we were all down for the count.

I find myself wishing illness upon others. It's not very Christian-like, that's for sure. But when you are in the midst of suffering... And now it lingers. It's been a week and I still sound like a 60-year-old chain smoking cat lady with a New Jersey accent, hacking up...well I'll spare you the details. I even developed the accent for amusement purposes.

At this point I'm asking "Eli Eli lema sabachthani?" Perhaps God wanted me to suffer this week so that I can have a tiny glimpse into real suffering. It is very very tiny in comparison. Suffering is what we Christians celebrate this "Holy Week". Jesus' suffering...much more than my tiny cold. I am physically reminded to take a look at what true suffering is and what it means. And as I reflect, I find myself wondering if I praise God for who He is, what He has done, and what He will do? Or are my praises in hopes of selfish fulfillment? Are my prayers to have him heal me of this cold when they should be lifting Him up for the truly amazing God He is? There's nothing in this life that can compare to what He has done for me. And there's no amount of suffering I can endure that He has not ten-fold. So I praise you, God, for giving me this cold as a reminder of what I should be grateful for. And as a gentle reminder to quit my bitching.

Where has time gone?

I sat down in my chair tonight and though, "I will blog tonight. Yes, tonight I will blog." But the thought never crossed my mind that it has been almost an entire year without one entry.

My days seem long and yet so fast. I feel as though I have three days a week, unlike the common seven. Monday through Friday have become Monfriday. Then I have Saturday and Sunday. I guess that's what happens when you are a full time working mommma. Still, after a year of finding a new normal, I have yet to establish what normal is. Finding the balance between have to's and want to's is the daily routine. But when the have to's have had and the want to's begin, that is where I find I'd rather be living this rollercoaster of Monfriday's, Saturday's and Sunday's than go back to seven days a week normal.

Life is good.