Skating

We recently celebrated my oldest niece's 10th birthday and she wanted to take some of her friends skating. We did cake/ice cream and presents at my sister's house, then headed down to the skating rink for some good times. I must say I have never felt old in my life...I actually still feel really young despite the fact that I turn 29 this year. I have also never really felt un cool in a parent kind of way. All that changed with one night out with my niece, her friends, and the rest of the skating rink. I used to skate as a teenager at this rink and I remember feeling so cool and yes I thought my mom was so uncool lol...that night I just felt really out of place and old! Anyways, when we were getting skates I asked if they had Maddy's size available and the guy didn't even go look he just said, "No I don't think so." I ended up going ahead and getting my skates. I never thought Maddy would feel scared, but I looked down and she just has pure fear in her eyes and was real clingy. I hugged her and tried to reassure her and she slowly started to become more and more comfortable. My sister held her for me while I took one lap around the rink. Might I add that if you don't skate in oh...11-12 years it is definitely a little difficult to get used to again lol. I'm sure all the younger kids were laughing at me but it was still really fun. I got the bright idea to just grab my youngest niece's skates (she refused to try skating) to use for Maddy because in the end it wouldn't matter since Maddy would not be skating on her own. I'm so glad I did cause we got some pictures and she actually did very well. She started to be silly and would say, "Woah, whoa..." We all had a great time and I can't wait to take Maddy back!

Pump It Up

I've been MIA from the blog world for a little while. Not real sure when I will come back as my schedule has changed quite a bit. I had to share Maddy's first "friend" birthday party. One of my high school friends invited me and Maddy to her daughter's 3rd birthday at a place called pump it up. I was extremely nervous because I hadn't seen her since high school and I wouldn't really know the people there...I'm a very shy person lol. We got there and even Maddy was playing shy, but she warmed up pretty quick once she got to play. I am amazed at what all she can do all by herself. She was climbing like a pro by the time we were done. Before I post the pictures I will say that without a doubt it was so much fun and I'm really glad we were able to attend. I think I had as much fun as Maddy did and I am so ready to go back! With the pictures I will have to be very selective because I do not want to post other kids' pictures without permission so I may not have many or any pics at all for that matter lol...

I got a lot of pictures! This is proof she really does smile because in most of her pics she looks so seirous lol. She really had a great time!

Stand Up!

If you're on my Facebook, you know Maddy is really into VeggieTales. We recently got a new cd for the car and this song caught my attention. Before we can stand up for what we believe in, we have to know what it is we do believe in. Standing up for a belief is no easy task, but as the song says God will stand by you and He will back you up.

Wednesday Savings

I wasn't really sure if I was going to be able to stay home today or not...pretty much been that way all week. When I jumped on my work email I saw this lovely email stating my new computer had been shipped. I knew from that email I would indeed get to stay home one more day before having to go back to work. Knowing this was my last day off I had so much I wanted to do. I wanted to go grocery shopping, clean, and rest. I have no idea how I spent 3 hours getting all my coupons together for the stores but I did. It was a combination of figuring out what I wanted to get on top of grabbing the coupon. I made a list for Kroger, Bi-Lo, Publix, and I attempted Food Lion. By 1:00 I was ready to do my shopping. The problem is I attempted to find Kroger's in Georgia but I just could not find the location I had written down. I was so close to it but after a few tries I just decided it'd be best to go back home and do Bi-Lo and Publix. CVS was along the way and I wanted to attempt to do their $10 CVS gift card. I was supposed to get: (1) Big roll of Charmin toilet paper, (1) bounty paper towel-8pk, (2) cottenelle flushable wipes, (2) skittles, and a single mars bar. Well I was not thinking about it being Wednesday and this started on Sunday. I was lucky enough to find the Charmin toilet paper just as I was about to give up. I had to come up with a new plan on the spot and I think considering it was spur of the minute I did pretty good...but I probably could have done better lol. I ended up with toilet paper, 2 charmin flushable wipes, foundation, and eye shadow. I know that does not sound like it would cost very much...but oh man did it ever. Without any savings my total came to $51.37. I about died when I first saw that, but then I realized my card hadn't gotten scanned yet. The toilet paper was on sale for $9.99 (16 rolls). I also had a coupon for $.25 off charmin. The flushable wipes were on sale for $2.50, and the cosmetics were buy 1 get 1 50% off. The foundation was $14.99 and then I got the eye shadow half off for $4.39. My total came to $37.54. I had $4 ECB from a previous purchase which brought my total to $33.30. I received my $10 CVS cash, so it was like I paid $13.30 for everything. I did remember to snap a pic this time :)

According to my receipt my total savings for this trip was $16.63. Again, I'm sure there was a better deal but I was silly and did not bring my entire coupon book in and did not have time to figure out the next best deal. I never made it to Bi-Lo or Publix so I guess I will be going there on Sunday because Saturday I am in search of Kroger lol

Pray Carefully and Specifically

Friday around 3:30 p.m. my work computer just crashed on me. I was super stressed out because my production was really low. I tried everything I knew to do to fix the problem or get support to contact me back. I realized around 7:00 p.m. there was no hope in getting production or my computer fixed that day. I went to bed feeling really sick to my stomach for fear of what I would face the next week. I did the only thing I knew to do...I cried everything I had in me out and prayed. One thing I said in my prayer was how tired and stressed I was and couldn't take much more. Never did I imagine anything would really come from that prayer, but I've since learned otherwise. I did not have a good weekend at all. I was extremely stressed out about work and then I had some personal problems crop up that just did me in. I am beyond stressed...I am to the point that I can barely eat anything because my stomach is just in knots from stress. It is completely unhealthy to be this stressed out and I have tried my best to just pray and move on. I guess God has his own way of helping me to relax a little lol. Monday morning came and let me tell you, I was dreading that day. I contacted our support team again about my computer and they informed that they would put in another request but to wait to hear back. I sat and waited all day and heard nothing. I was still stressed because even though it is completely out of my control, we can still get in trouble...maybe we didn't call support enough or we didn't stay in contact with our manager enough...there's always something that is our fault regardless. Around 3:00 p.m. I started to relax a little. I was beyond exhausted from getting no sleep Saturday night on top of all this stress. I put what little relax time I gave myself and clipped a good bit of my coupons out and organized them. I still have some to go but that gets really tiring after a while. I have to say when I picked Maddy up it felt really good knowing I could take my time with her and really enjoy the time we had together instead of being in a rush to complete work or just being stressed out from the events that happened at work. We played, ate, watched "Bob," and went to bed. As soon as I put her to bed I ended up going to bed. I didn't mean to fall asleep at all, but I was so exhausted the minute I laid down I was out. I woke up at 9:48 p.m. only to fall back asleep until 11:00 p.m. I remembered I left Manny in the kitchen so I grabbed him real quick and then fell back asleep until 7:00 a.m. I woke up a few other times but those are minor details lol. I woke up this morning feeling really good. It's amazing what 11 hours of sleep can do to a person who has been sleep deprived for three years lol. I was dreading contacting support and my manager again this morning, but I can tell the stress is slowly going down a little at a time. It's been determined that I need a new computer (no kidding...i coulda told ya that lol) and so far my manager has been understanding. I have begun to enjoy a little bit of my day today. I pulled out my scrapbook and have been working on it all morning while watching lifetime movies :) I'm seeing this unexpected time off as God giving me a break that I so desperately needed. This year is definitely a year of learning about the power of prayer for me. I am constantly hearing about praying not just for our present circumstances, but to also pray for our future. That is a new concept to me. I hope you all are having a better week than mine has started out as :) 

Sunday Savings

I am going to start incorporating my coupon deals into my blog. I am still semi new to this whole coupon thing. I started last year, however, I focused on the drugstores. Today I included Bi-Lo and Publix. I normally spend $80 every other week and on the in between weeks I spend approximately $30. My first stop today was CVS. I wanted to take advantage of the Special K cereal deal, which was 3/$10 and then you get $4 ECB back. I don't have my receipt right in front of me but I believe my total came to approximately$10.80. I had $1 off coupon which brought it down to $9.80. I also used my previous $5 coupon which brought it down to $4.80. I received the $4ECB, so it was like paying $.80 for three boxes of Special K cereal.


Our next stop was Walmart. I will only be getting items that I need that aren't at sale from Wal-Mart. The only coupons I had were for Axe shower gel and Totino's pizza. I have also set a goal of letting fewer coupons expire throughout the year. No, I won't buy something just to keep the coupon from expiring, but if I think it's a good deal then I will definitely use it. Wal-Mart consisted of B1G1 free Axe shower gel, five pizza's using a $1 off coupon, two newspapers, 24 pack of mello yello, All You magazine, and two bottles of water. My total came to $26.46 ($4.97 savings)


 

Bi-Lo was our next stop.By this time Maddy was becoming very tired of shopping so it became a more hurried trip. I bought two boxes of zip-loc bags, a gallon of mayfield chocolate milk, birds eye steam fresh penne pasta, and jimmy dean snack size sausage biscuits. Total out of pocket paid was $18.05 (My total savings was $7.15). I messed up on the chocolate milk. I thought the coupon said $1 off a gallon of milk OR two half gallons of milk. Instead it said $1 off a gallon of milk AND two half gallons. If I had not gotten the milk my total would have been $7 something...lesson learned to look at the coupons closely!


Publix was our last stop, however, I cannot find my receipt and I have no idea what my total or savings were at the moment. Once I find that receipt I will come back and edit. I am also going to start taking pictures of my purchases instead of finding pics online because I think it looks better, but I think having pictures in general help put in to perspective just how much money is being saved. 

Courageous

This is not really a review on the movie, so if you  haven't seen it no worries...no spoiler alerts here lol. As many know through my Facebook, I have been anxiously awaiting this movie to come out on DVD. I received it as a Christmas gift (blu-ray at that), but still had to wait for them to release it. The movie came out on Tuesday, but I wasn't able to watch it until today. It is definitely a movie to check out! This movie basically deals with fatherhood. One might think oh, well, I'm a mom or I'm a woman in general so there's no need to watch it....WRONG! What I found amazing is starting at the beginning of the year I knew my focus was going to be Maddy. I don't generally pick out themes each year, but it was heavy on my heart. Every time this church makes a movie and I see it...the theme goes hand in hand with what is going on in my life and Courageous falls right in line. I'm not a dad obviously, but I am a parent and I'm going to be the best parent I know how and rely on God to guide me through this journey. I plan on finding scripture that deals with parenting and pray a whole bunch. I definitely feel God "stirring" in my life and I am very excited to see what He has planned for Maddy and me, but I must also admit that I'm petrified. Children are precious gifts from God and they are gifts we should never take for granted. We need to cherish them while we have them!
*Psalm 127:3*