This Blessed Life

Miscellany Monday {15}– Our Weekend

2012-02-13T06:42:00.001-08:00

As of Saturday, we are officially “ONE AND ONE” in our adoption process! What that means is that we have ONE parenting class and ONE home visit left until we are good to go! Whoo hooo!!! (We are still waiting on our fingerprints to come back from the state but those are estimated to be ready about March 7th.)

Our social worker – who is awesome, by the way – said that he thinks we’ll be ready by mid-March. I’m saying April 1st so I don’t get my hopes up. (haha) We are SO ready to welcome another kiddo into our house!

I painted my nails yesterday. It’s seriously ridiculous how grown-up I feel with dark nails. hahaha! {Color is “Mink Muffs”}. Thanks to my friend Kathy for suggesting the color and my husband for buying it for me for Christmas. :)

Do you see these two pictures? What do they have in common?

Um…they should never be taken on February 13th! Seriously…sugar ants in the bathroom (of all places!) and crocuses literally about 8 inches tall (I know, lovely landscaping – it will be improved this spring!) It’s a crazy winter but I’m not complaining for one second.

We went to Moe’s on Saturday night for dinner. It was good but it was no Chipotle! (I am a die-hard Chipotle lover.) The food doesn’t taste as good and they move you along super fast and they have these glass barriers between you and the food when you order. Except I literally had to stand on my tip-toes so they could hear me since the glass is so high and I’m pretty short. I seriously felt like I was 8 years old. However, they do serve grass-fed beef in their menu so to that I say, WELL DONE Moe’s! Oh and a girl can’t complain about free chips and salsa. :) Luke was so, so good for us which was such a blessing. Toddler boys and restaurants don’t usually mix well. Can I get an amen?!

Crazy that Valentine’s Day is tomorrow! (Wasn't it just Christmas Eve?!) Chris and I aren’t doing anything special since my parents are already kind enough to watch Luke once a week for us while we go to our parenting class, and we don’t want to stretch them too thin. However, my husband did say he is getting me something “small” so of course I am looking forward to seeing what Tuesday brings!

What about you? Do you go all out on Valentine’s Day or is it pretty low-key at your house? I know some people hate it and some people love it so I’m curious to know. If it was solely up to me it would be overflowing with flowers and gifts and nights out but clearly I am only one half of this relationship! haha

Happy Monday!

Linking up with:

Valentine’s Décor Around Our House

2012-02-12T10:12:00.001-08:00

Hey guys! Nope, I didn’t fall off the face of the earth! Just a verrrrrry busy few weeks for us, that’s all. So busy that we completely took the day off today, even from church. And we are all still our pajamas! Love it!

I do try to decorate for every holiday, but for Valentine’s day I keep it pretty simple. When we have older kids that know what the day means, I will emphasize it more, but for now it’s pretty basic. But I can’t let a holiday go by without some acknowledgment – it’s the teacher in me. Especially if the holiday involves PINK! haha

Here’s what you see when you first walk in our door. The small watercolor print was a freebie sent by e-mail via Jones Design Company. (You can sign up for her e-mails on her blog! Love her!).

The larger heart was done by Luke. I love it! Originally, I taped a heart over a piece of paper and was hoping that when I pulled the heart off, all you would see is a white outline of a heart (kinda like the smaller print). Unfortunately, it didn’t really work out the way I wanted it to, so I just decided to stick with the smaller heart and frame it. I think I actually like this way better!

{Here’s my little boy painting. Oooooh do I love him!}

In the bathroom I framed this adorable (free!) subway print, courtesy of Bonjour Blog via Pinterest. How cute is that?! And I call Luke “love bug” all the time, so that’s a fun little touch.

In the kitchen I changed the chalkboard over from a Christmas verse to a “love”-based verse. That chalkboard was a piece of the most hideous abstract art from Goodwill you’ve ever seen, but it’s super sturdy so I just rolled chalkboard paint on it this past summer and now it works perfectly.

On the stove I just have a heart-shaped plate from Goodwill with a Goodwill candle on top. Super simple.

In the living room I have a little wannabe-mantel going on (and it is IMPOSSIBLE to get good lighting since it’s right in front of the window – sorry!). You can see my Valentine’s mantel from two years ago here.

I used a lot of the same elements from two years ago (remember I couldn’t decorate for Valentine’s day last year since we didn’t have our house yet!).

The thrifted Eiffel Tower was brought back out, along with the XOXO from TJMaxx (one of my favorite shopping finds EVER!). I wrapped some pink tulle that I got at a yard sale forever ago around the letters, and took some of my bracelets that had pinkish hues and wrapped them around the votive candle.

You can see how I made the vintage-looking prints here.

The plate is also thrifted from Goodwill and the little birdie was only $2.99 at Target! (Totally will be reusing it for springtime, too.)

So there you go! Pretty basic but still marks the holiday going by.

My goal is to be back tomorrow – see you then! Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

Clean Eating {No Sugar!} Creamy Tomato Soup

2012-01-30T11:35:00.001-08:00

I’ve shared before how expensive good-quality meat is, and how due to that fact we eat a lot less meat than we used to. I am always on the lookout for meatless or low-meat meals, and this one is sure to please!

Best of all, it uses pantry staples AND it’s cheap! Love that! (Am I the only one whose eyes glaze over when I read a recipe with 17 ingredients, including 4 spices you’ve never heard of?!)

My husband and I both love this soup – I’ve been making it almost weekly this past month, especially since I was able to freeze so many Roma tomatoes from our garden this year. Mmmmmm!!!

A word of warning, though: if you are used to Campbell’s Tomato soup (I used to love that stuff!), this will definitely take getting used to! Campbell’s is super sugary and this recipe is completely on the other end of the spectrum. But I promise that after your first few bites (tastes? slurps?) you will be hooked. :)

Creamy Tomato Soup
Adapted from Fast and Easy by Suzanne Somers

2 T butter
1/2 C chopped onions
1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
1 C chicken stock
1 C whole milk (can also use 1/4 C cream and 3/4 C milk for thicker soup)
Salt, basil, and crushed red pepper to taste (it will definitely need salt)
Mozzarella cheese (optional)

Melt butter in a 3-quart heavy-bottomed saucepan. Add onions and sauté for about 2 minutes (or until softened).

Add tomatoes, chicken stock, and milk/cream to onions.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes. (I add my spices after simmering, but you can also add them individually to each bowl if you prefer to customize.) Pour into a blender or food processor (or use an immersion blender!) and blend until smooth.

Pour into soup bowls and garnish with shredded mozzarella cheese, if desired.

This is especially delicious with French Bread Baguettes! Mmmmm!!

Enjoy!

Linked to these parties:
Tasty Tuesday @ Beauty and Bedlam
Tasty Tuesdays @ 33 Shades of Green

YHM: Week 3 {I Will Not Quit!}

2012-01-26T11:03:00.001-08:00

Something really exciting happened yesterday.

I pulled my jeans off the drying rack – those babies were as crispy as could be, since I refuse to put them in the dryer for fear of them getting even tighter.

And I put them on.

And zipped.

They always zip (thank God), so that’s not the miraculous part.

The miraculous thing was that these extra-crispy, newly-washed jeans, which would usually require Olympic-level lunges to break them in, just……

zipped.

It was awesome! (Feel free to laugh at the mental image of me doing lunges to fit into my crispy jeans. lol)

I still have muffin top – heck I have a whole BAKERY of rolls going on down there in my belly area.

But it’s progress, people. And I’ll take it. :)

My actual weight loss has been slooooooooow. On Friday I had dropped 2.6 pounds, but then a certain Event happened that makes me gain 3-4 pounds on average so when the Event is over I will be back to weighing myself like normal. I refuse to weigh myself right now because the water bloat is killer and I refuse to see numbers on the scale that aren’t really true to what’s going on right now and have that messing with my head. So the fact that no lunges were required to wear the crispy-jeans, especially this week, is even more exciting.

Because normally I would be throwing on a pair of leggings right now and calling it a day. :)

So I’m just plugging along……watching portions….limiting treats…..working out every single day that I can (which has averaged to be about 6 days a week for the last 3 weeks).

I took my measurements in week 2 so I can see progress in a month or so. I read a GREAT post yesterday about NO MORE EXCUSES. This girl also wrote about how over a 2-month period she hardly lost any weight but she still dropped from a size 10 to a size 8 because she was exercising and things were still toning up. That was super encouraging to read!

I’m in this to win this, baby!

P.S. My bloggy friend Sarah has a degree in nutritional science and is also a health coach and a trained wellness coach (I hope I got that right, Sarah!). She blogs at Growing on Gettysburg and she wrote a post talking about some of the things she has learned and taught over the years. There is a great line in her post that she recommends putting on your fridge: “If you’re not hungry then what you need isn’t in here.” LOVE IT! I totally put it on my fridge. She said she would love to help anyone else who needs a little direction on the weight loss/healthy eating journey and you can reach her at sgh131{at}yahoo{dot}com. :)

NSM {Week 3}: I MET MY GOAL!

2012-01-23T11:33:00.001-08:00

Yup, it’s true! My goal for our No-Spend Month, besides not using my debit card at all, was to contribute $200 all on my own toward paying off a certain debt. I am happy to say that as of right now, I have earned:

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! :)

The crazy thing is, when I gave myself a goal for $200, I was expecting to teach one extra piano lesson and also have a Wildtree tasting party for someone. None of those things ended up happening, yet God was still gracious enough to let me earn the money….and the month is not over yet! :)

I have prayed many times this month that God would provide extra ways for me to earn money to pay off debt. The Facebook resale groups that I mentioned 2 weeks ago have been such a blessing….I keep finding stuff to sell and post and praise God, people keep buying it! lol

As I mentioned in my review post for The Money Saving Mom’s Budget, having a goal has been invaluable. When I didn’t get the money for the lessons or party like I originally thought I would (I was expecting to bring in between $100-$120 from those events), I was forced to reevaluate and get creative with selling what I could.

The crazy thing is that the more I purge our house, the more I find that I can get rid of! Our house is like a Mary Poppins bag! lol

Anyway, I just wanted to encourage you to think outside the box and keep pressing on if you’re working at chipping away debt. And most importantly, don’t forget to PRAY! I really believe that living debt-free is a big deal to God and that He will bless you in those efforts.

You can do it!

P.S. I do have to admit here that I did use my debit card on Wednesday to buy a salad at Wendy’s. Luke had an evaluation for his feeding issues that was an hour and a half away and in my nervousness about the meeting I totally forgot to pack a lunch for myself. We left the house at 9:20 and didn’t get home til almost 3 – and I was starving. So yes, the debit card did get used once! Our printer ink was completely out so we had to buy an almost $30 cartridge for it – otherwise I would have had extra cash. I am hoping to have $6 left over this week to put back in the account to make up for it!

P.P.S. If you ever have a situation where you need to eat fast food, remember that Wendy’s supports the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption! Their Baja salad is really yummy and you can order it with a baked potato instead of chili so you don’t have to eat fake meat aka FEET. lol!

Three Random Things to Tell You

2012-01-21T11:31:00.001-08:00

Okay actually four.

1. A while ago when I posted my Crockpot Salsa Chicken recipe I also shared a recipe for homemade tortillas. These tortillas are so, so good –and I had wondered if I could freeze them to use at a later time. I just wanted to share that I have since tried freezing them two ways: first, I made all the balls and froze them that way and then pulled them out of the freezer, thawed them, rolled them out and cooked them when I needed them. They turned out fine but it was a lot of extra work.

Now I make a big batch, cook them all, then wrap the extras in plastic wrap, then foil, then put in a freezer bag. Thaw before you need them and they come out great! Still chewy and everything. I love this because now I only need to make a mess of rolling them out and getting out the griddle once. Just wanted to pass that along.

2. We made it to January 19th without any serious snow. We now have about 8-10 inches. I still can’t believe we made it to mid-January in Connecticut without snow. It’s unreal! I feel like I got a taste of a Southern winter this year and I’m not gonna lie….I’m kinda jealous of what it must be like down there every year! It was so nice to have such a mild winter. But the snow is pretty, I will admit – so I’m trying to be content that it’s here now and I really have absolutely no choice but to live with it. lol

3. I’m still pressing on in the weight loss and exercise department! I will post an update next week. If you’re working hard at this, too, KEEP GOING! You can totally do it! :)

4. My son Luke had a big eval this week for his feeding and sensory issues. The reason I didn’t post at all this week was because we learned that he is going to need more therapies than we originally thought. It has been a really hard and emotional week for both of us as we’ve processed this info. I will share more at a later time but for now we could both totally use prayer for wisdom for us and the specialists who will be working with him in the future.

Thanks all! I hope you are enjoying your Saturday – whatever it may look like outside your window. :)

NSM Week 2: Our Weekly Household Budget

2012-01-16T13:38:00.001-08:00

Before I get into the details of my shopping trips, I am super happy to say that this week I earned $45 by selling $20 worth of Luke’s old clothes, an oven hood we bought for our last house and didn’t install before we moved, a DVD, some coffee mugs, and some Christmas items on the Facebook resale group I mentioned last time.

That means that so far this month I’ve brought in a total of $174, which means I only need $26 to reach my goal of $200 to put toward debt this month! So close!! :)

-------------------

So I mentioned last week that I thought it would be interesting to write down in detail how much I spend a week on our household needs. I wanted to do this for 4 reasons:

1. To remind myself in years to come what food and household items cost in 2012 (I’m sure I will be shocked at how “cheap” it was!)

2. To show you what a family of 3 in Connecticut who eats mostly clean/whole foods spends their grocery money on

3. To actually somewhat dispel the myth that it’s not all that expensive to eat well. I COMPLETELY DISAGREE WITH THAT STATEMENT. Our family could survive on much, much less per week if I shopped solely what was on sale and cheapest. But the expense is worth it to me (remember when I said, “You pay now or you pay later, but either way, you pay?”). Sometimes it kills me to pay this much for food every week ($12 on 2.5 pounds of beef, anyone?!), but I feel so strongly about eating well that it is worth it to me.

4. To see if there were any ways I could improve when I saw it all written out – and I definitely did learn a lesson. At this point I had been making it a goal to use coupons on any name-brand item I bought – and overall, I did well on that front. But I’m going to try harder to really get the best deal on those non-couponable items (like baby carrots, for instance). That might mean some more trips to Wal-Mart are in my future (ick – I realllly don’t like that place!) but I think it would be financially beneficial right now.

I used a couple of letters to designate certain things I wanted to remember:

S = the item was on sale
C = I used a coupon
D = I used a Dollar Doubler coupon
WL = I bought this specifically to aid in my weight loss (not a normal purchase for me)
* = I bought this specifically for Luke to help fill in the nutritional gaps in his diet; not a normal purchase for me if he was eating normally

----------------------

Without further ado, this is where the money went this week:

Monday, CVS:

Whole milk for Chris, $3.49 S (plus 1 ECB back)

Tuesday, Stop & Shop:

Hood sour cream: free plus overage C/D
Horizon DHA organic whole milk: $4.09*
Stonyfield organic skim: $2.89 S/C
Laughing Cow wedges: 2 for $4.08 S/C/D/WL
Land o’ Lakes butter {Honestly, I got tired of melting butter in the microwave!}: $3.79
Whipped cream: $1.99*
2% American cheese: $3.25 S

Brown lunch bags {for homemade popcorn!}: $2
Napkins: $1.89 S
Latex gloves: $1.50 S

Flatbreads and Teddy Grahams {treats}: 4 for $5 S/C/D
Spaghetti: $1 S

Organic chicken broth: $1
Preservative-free ham: $5.78 C/D
Veggie fed, hormone/antibiotic-free ground beef: about 2.5 pounds for $12.38 {This is why we don’t eat a lot of beef! We are currently all out of our pastured beef so this will have to last us about 5 meals} S
Veggie fed, hormone/antibiotic-free ground turkey: 1 lb for $3.49 S
Wild-caught haddock: about 1 lb for $5.78 S

Strawberries: $2.99 S*
Onions: $2.49
Bananas: $1.13
Organic potatoes: $5.99
Organic romaine: $2.99 S
{Plus 5 reusable bag credits}

Total: $75.48

Wednesday, Wal-Mart:

Lipton Green Tea: $2.16 WL
Lemons: $2.50 WL
Tape Measure: $1.47 WL

Feta cheese {feta is like water in this house – we need it for survival! lol}: $.67 C
Lance WW PB crackers: 2 for $4*
All-natural bread: $2.50

Diapers (Luke moved to size 6 and we just can’t afford Pampers anymore!): $5.97
Shampoo (I have super-thin hair and this really helps!): $5.97
Pillow : $2.50

{Story about the pillow: my husband has hated his pillow for a while and it frequently gives him neck pain. Last week he said, “Honey, do you think in February we could buy a new pillow for me?” Ummmmm….I got the poor man a pillow this month. lol}

Total: $28.37

Friday, Shop-Rite:

Emerald peanuts (for homemade trail-mix): 2 for $1.48 S/C
Granola bars: 2 for $4 S/C
Scotties tissues: 5 for $3.40 S/C
Lysol wipes: $.99 S/C
V-8 Fusion: 2 for $4 S/C*
Black beans: 4 for $1.92 S
Salsa {for Crockpot Salsa Chicken!}: 4 for $4.36 S/C
Cabot cheddar cheese: 2 for $3.98 S
Turkey Hill ice cream {for guests on Saturday}: $2.99 S

{Plus 3 reusable bag credits}

Total: $27.03

On Friday I bought pastured eggs from our Pastor’s family ($4) and Saturday I bought some more milk since my husband was out and we were having guests and I wanted some available for their kiddos. It came to $2.69 – and I had to pay with a dollar bill and spare change I found around the house. Awesome. Not my first choice but you better believe I was not whipping out that debit card!

So that, my friends, is how you spend $141.06 in food and household items for one week. (My budget for all things food and household related is $140. I stretched it by using spare change to buy the milk this week.}

Depressing, right?! I see a few areas I can improve on, so that’s encouraging, at least.

So those of you trying to stick to cash – only: did you stick to the plan? Did you pull out your debit or credit card? Let me know! We’re halfway through the month – we can do this! :)

Giveaway Winner!

2012-01-15T13:53:00.001-08:00

Well kids, I think it’s safe to say that my review and giveaway post was the most highly viewed and commented post on This Blessed Life EVER. That is what happens when Crystal Paine mentions your blog on her Facebook page! My FB friends already know how I literally felt weak in the knees after seeing her reference my blog and my review – and my Google Analytics site basically blew up after that! haha

Enough about me, let’s talk about YOU!

The lucky winner is:

“SUE G”

Sue, I have sent an e-mail to your inbox – please message me back with your address so I can pass it on to Crystal! She has very generously offered to mail the winner the book herself.

Be back tomorrow with my no-spend update! :)

YHM Progress, Week One: The Honest Truth

2012-01-10T11:24:00.001-08:00

I am sitting here and seriously dreading the words that my hands are currently typing. I worked SO hard last week – I worked out 5 days on my elliptical, plus did some light weight lifting each of those 5 days. I ate much smaller portions than I had been, got back on the clean eating bandwagon (that had derailed a little over the holidays), stopped eating all treats and leftover Christmas candy, and….

I lost .2 pounds. Yup, that’s right. POINT TWO. For real, I could cry.

Let me give you a little insight into how my week went. Let’s just pretend, for the sake of argument, that my starting weight was 1 pound (because so help me but I am just not brave enough to post my real weight on the internet yet).

Tuesday – 1 pound
Wednesday – 2 pounds (????)
Thursday – still 2 pounds
Friday – .4 pounds
Saturday - 1 pound
Sunday – .8 pounds
Monday – .8 pounds
Tuesday – .8 pounds

WHAT THE HECK??!!!

You want to know the crazy thing? The two days I didn’t exercise at night were Thursday and Saturday. Not only that, but Saturday I also went out to eat at Olive Garden! (I ate only until I was satisfied and ate healthier choices, but I thought for sure I would see it in the scale in the morning.) And those are the only two days I showed a loss! I don’t understand!!

I’ve always known I have a really sluggish metabolism, and clearly this week is evidence of that. Who in the world starts dieting and exercising and loses TWO-TENTHS of a pound?! I did some research online today and saw a few tips that are supposed to help: like interval training, lifting higher-pound weights, drinking green tea and taking fish oil supplements before working out. I’m going to implement some of those this week.

Does anyone have any insight for me?? Clean eating is my thing – but exercising and weight loss are definitely NOT my thing. I need help, people!

Sorry for the downer post – I just needed to vent. Some of you had mentioned that you were also trying to get your eating and exercising under control. How are you all doing? Specifically Kathy, Becky, Tina, and Sarah! Let me know girls! E-mail or comment!

No-Spend Month Check-In {Week One}

2012-01-09T12:00:00.001-08:00

Just thought I’d pop on and give you my weekly update about how our No-Spend Month has been going!

First of all, I am happy to say that NO plastic was used this week! YAY!
I did use every last dime of my grocery budget, though. hahaha

Also, on the positive side, so far I have earned:

to put towards debt this month!

Which only leaves me with:

to reach my personal goal of adding $200 toward our loan payment this month! Sweet!

I reached that number by getting paid $80 for music lessons, plus I sold $49 worth of items from my house on a local resale group I’m a part of on Facebook.

{This group, by the way, is a GREAT idea that I cannot take any credit for…but I want to pass on the idea to you! It’s a group of local shoppers/sellers who list items for sale in a group on Facebook by creating an album. People can see the items and the prices and then set up a time to meet each other by messaging the seller. It’s a little safer than Craigslist because you see real names and the person can potentially get deleted from the group if they repeatedly don’t show up to meet and stuff like that. I always meet in a neutral location, just to be on the safe side!}

I did get a Vera Bradley diaper bag (that I am in looooove with) for $15 via one of those groups (using Christmas money – remember, I allowed myself that in “the rules” haha!).

We also were able to go out to Olive Garden on a date on Saturday night, thanks to my parents watching Luke and $50 in gift cards from my in-laws for Christmas. This is why January is a good month for us to do this challenge…it’s not as hard to stay sane this month like it might be in February! :) I think summer is also a good option since you can grill out, have picnics, go to the park, the beach, etc. all for free.

There’s something about knowing you CAN’T spend any money that somehow makes it all the more tempting! lol

Throughout this upcoming week I’ll be taking pictures of what I spend our money on so you can get a glimpse of how our weekly budget works.

How about all of YOU? I know several of you said you were trying the challenge – how’s it working out for you??

How Crystal Paine’s Book is Changing My Life {Review and Giveaway}

2012-01-05T07:05:00.001-08:00

{Edit: This giveaway now closed!}

I’m really and truly not exaggerating with that title.

I was given the opportunity to review Crystal Paine’s new book, The Money Saving Mom’s Budget, set to release on January 10th. Crystal, aka “Money Saving Mom,” writes a hugely popular blog by the same title. I’ve been following her since 2007, and this woman and her excellent advice has literally saved me thousands of dollars over the past several years. If you’ve never visited her site before, I can’t encourage you enough to go visit it. Like right now. Go ahead, I’ll be here when you get back. ;)

{via}

I can’t really describe it other than to say that when I read her book, something clicked. It was as if all the stuff I’d been hearing for years about how to truly get ahead financially finally aligned in my head - I finally “got it.”

To be perfectly blunt, I didn’t have high expectations when I read this book. I’ve read tons of blogs and several books about personal finance, and a lot of them say the same things: cut back on cable (uhh, we don’t own a tv), cut back on expensive cell phone usage (I use a Target Tracfone), don’t have a car payment (we’ve always driven used cars we paid cash for; our current ones are 21 and 11 years old, respectively), and on and on and on. Most of these books left me depressed, not encouraged.

But Crystal’s book? Simple, and to the point. It’s full of encouragement from a woman who’s BEEN there. (Chapter 9 shares how some months she and her husband had to survive on less than $650 – total. This is a woman who understands what it is to live on less, you guys!)

The number one point I’ve taken away from her book is this:

“I’ve found that the less I shop, the less I spend.” (141)

Ding ding ding! Light bulb!

Here was my problem:

I was taking out cash every week to buy household and grocery items. But inevitably, by the end of the week, I was still whipping out my debit card at the last store I shopped at, and here’s why: I have a bad tendency to go out to a store just to pass the time. I’m not talking about clothing or jewelry stores – I’m talking about boring old stores like CVS, Stop & Shop, or Target. It’s been cold here for a few months now (as in, too cold to go to a playground or park or spend days outside together), so most days I plan a shopping trip to get us out of the house and keep Luke and I from going stir-crazy. I honestly don’t mind being at home that much by myself, but sometimes the walls of this house feel a little too small for just me and my toddler – know what I mean?! lol My husband works a lot of long hours and sometimes the days just draaaaaaaaaag on and on. So one day I’ll go to the grocery store, the next day Target, etc.

Honestly, I really had good intentions. I wasn’t buying myself new wardrobes or treating myself to Starbucks – actually quite the opposite. I would pop into Target with $20 left in my wallet to buy diapers – and then I’d see wipes on sale….or a cleaning product on sale….or a food item I could get at a great price by combining a sale and a coupon….and before I knew it, I was putting $40 on a debit card in addition to my weekly grocery money because everyone knows that buying rock-bottom prices is how you truly save money and stay ahead and…

Yeah. This was continuing week after week after week. Call it “financial death by good intentions.” hahaha

Anyway, I read that line in her book and it changed everything for me. Immediately, I gave myself a challenge. Not only was I not going to use the debit card AT ALL anymore (except for gas – there is no way I’m leaving my 2-year-old alone in the car at the gas station!), I was also going to deliberately stay out of stores that I didn’t really need to go in. I was ALSO going to cut back our grocery budget by $20.

Well, I am happy to say that it has been a success so far! For the last four weeks, I have added an additional $80 toward paying off debt, not to mention all the money I’ve been saving by not using that little green card.

And you know what? It feels so good. :)

Reading her book and talking about it with my husband was also what prompted our No-Spend Month.

Specifically, these quotes:

“Goals give meaning to your efforts…Goals give you accountability…If you don't have written goals, it’s easy to spend money like water…Goals give you momentum…when you start working toward your goals, your whole outlook on how you spend your money changes. You feel a sense of satisfaction as you make progress.” (8, 10, 13-14)

So instead of saying, “We hope we’ll pay off debt soon,” and feeling like there’s never enough money to go around, now we’re saying, “This month we have a goal of putting $500 toward that loan” - and feeling super optimistic.

It’s a total shift in thinking – we’ve moved from hoping and wishing to concrete action.

I could literally go on and on and on about this fabulous book….I could share all the pages I highlighted and tell you how I read it in less than a day and a half because I couldn’t put it down….

But I really want you to read it for yourself.

Because I am posting a review for her, Crystal and her team are going to give me a finished copy of the book (we all got drafts to review). I’m giving away that final copy to one of you! All you have to do is leave a comment on this post – and make sure that if you don’t have a blog, you leave me an e-mail address so I can reach you. (I will mail you the book as soon as Crystal and her team mail it to me, so please understand there may be several weeks’ turnaround.)

Can I tell you my most favorite part about this book? ALL proceeds go to support Compassion International. She is not keeping one dime for herself. Isn’t that fabulous?! So even if you don’t win this giveaway, $11 is a an incredible deal considering you’re getting a fabulous resource and such a wonderful organization is benefiting.

It’s truly a win-win situation! :)

2012: The Year of the Hot Mom

2012-01-03T19:51:00.001-08:00

Did you just laugh at me through your computer screen? It’s okay if you did – I promise. :)

Girls, I don’t know about all of you but I am seriously just SICK AND TIRED of lugging around this extra weight! I am twenty-two pounds heavier than my wedding day five and a half years ago. TWENTY TWO! Now I don’t ever expect to be that skinny again – I was working out for an hour at the gym five days a week, plus on a strict diet. I was in the absolute best shape of my life, but that was for a specific time in my life and I don’t expect to come close to that again.

{August 4, 2006- the night before I got married – with two of my bridesmaids.}

But I will tell you that my lowest weight after Luke was born was only ten pounds higher than that. I was Somersizing and eating super clean. I wasn’t really toned, but I could fit into a lot more of my clothes than I can now.

{July 2010 - about 10-12 pounds higher than my wedding weight. This is the goal I’m going for now.}

Do you want to know something insane? Like seriously crazy? I am fifteen pounds heavier than I was in May. Gross, right? That means that I have gained fifteen pounds in a little less than eight months. And what is the reason for this? Apathy. I just haven’t been proactive about taking care of myself. I know for sure that I gained weight about the time that Luke’s food issues started coming to the surface (I am a total stress eater for sure), and then I definitely gained weight over the holidays (because to be honest, I just love food! lol).

I can’t describe it, really, but all I know is that I have had enough. I have two weddings to be a part of this June, and I want to look good in those pictures. I deserve it, my husband definitely deserves it, and even Luke deserves it – he deserves a healthy mom….certainly not one who is gaining fifteen pounds a year.

It also helps that all my pants are getting too tight and I’m way too cheap to go out and buy new ones. lol

SO.

I have declared 2012 The Year of the Hot Mom. So far my husband knows about this, as does my friend Lindsay. And now all of you do, too. Ha!

I have a specific goal to lose one pound a week for the next 18 weeks. That puts me right at April 24th – with time to adjust a bridesmaid dress, if needed, for the wedding I am in on June 16th.

I bought an elliptical off of Craigslist right before Christmas. I used it tonight!! (It’s the first full day we’ve been back home since traveling over New Year’s). There is no earthly way I am going to get myself motivated to exercise unless it involves me watching tv or a movie. In other words, if I actually have to think about the exercise I’m doing, it’s just not going to happen. I used to work out on the elliptical machine at the gym last year, and I loved it. I know some people hate them, but I actually enjoy them. I can’t believe I just said that about exercising. It feels like I just swore. haha

I bought a digital scale a few months ago that shows pounds in .2 increments, which also really helps. Before all I had was a crummy dial one from a flea market and it was super tricky to actually tell if you’d lost weight or not because it always came unbalanced. I’ll be weighing myself everyday.

As far as eating goes, so far I’m going to just limit my portions and eat as clean as possible. I know that sugar and carbs are weight triggers for me, so I’ll be trying to stay away from them. My problem usually isn’t what I’m eating, since I eat very healthy foods overall, but how much of it. My friend Lindsay lost about 40 pounds through portion control and exercise several years ago, and she is the queen of self-control when it comes to eating. I try to picture her face when I want to eat. lol!

Some other phrases I’ve heard that are helpful and play in my head:

“You are not a human garbage disposal.”

“Better to go to waste than to waist.”

“Are you really hungry or are you just bored?”

“Let yourself get to a 3 or 4 on the hunger scale (out of 10) before you eat something. You don’t always need to be at a level 1.”

“Aim to only feel 80% full all of the time – never stuffed.”

“Is this really worth it?”

I just wanted you all to know that I am totally willing to help you be accountable if you need help along the way! You could start your own “Hot Mom” program. (Or hot wife, hot girlfriend, hot nurse, etc. haha)

I am so ready to DO this.

It’s my year.

I’m coming back, baby!

I’ll check back in next week! :)

January 2012: Our No-Spend Month {The How and Why}

2012-01-03T06:46:00.001-08:00

I think the lack of any sort of snow on the ground so far in Connecticut is really helping with my normal post-Christmas blues. This January, I feel more hopeful and invigorated than I ever have before. SUCH a nice change from how I usually feel this month. :)

{via}

Chris and I have some big financial goals this year. One of them is to pay off a small-business loan he took out from his uncle in 2008 to start his home internet business (that unfortunately didn’t pan out for him as a full-time career but has since been acquired by another company and gives him side jobs working on the site). The second goal is to pay off our credit card that we got in 2008 to help us live on so we could put money in the bank to save up while we purchased our house (don’t ask, it’s a long story!). We haven’t used that card since 2009 and we are still, unfortunately, paying on it.

The small-business loan, if we did not make extra payments, would be paid off in March 2013. Our goal is to knock it out by June 1, 2012. We can totally do that. This will give us an extra $200 a month to work with.

A little more audacious is the credit card payment – but by paying off the business loan early, we can then make triple payments on the credit card. Our big crazy goal is to pay THAT off by the end of the year – December 31, 2012, to be exact. That will give us about $100 extra each month.

And lucky, lucky us, when we pay of those two small loans, we will still have multiple school loans to keep paying on, plus our mortgage. YAY!

{via}

Anyway, we are going into this thing with gusto! Some of you may read the blog Small Notebook. I have been inspired several times by Rachel’s “No Spend Months” – she has typically done them in July.

We’re instituting one in our house for the month of January, and here’s what it’s going to look like:

- Continue to pay all bills (I hope that was obvious, but just in case…)

- Continue to give tithes (these are gifts to missionaries and our local church that we give out of our love for God; they are a non-negotiable “expense” in our house)

- Continue to take out weekly cash for groceries/household needs (like shampoo, diapers, etc.)

- Use of Christmas money and/or gift cards is allowed during this time, since it’s not coming out of our bank account (and this is also keeping me sane)

- There is absolutely no use of our bank account other than bills, gas, and the usual weekly cash deduction for groceries/household

In addition to what we’re NOT spending, my husband is putting an extra $100 for the next five months toward the business loan payment, and my goal for this month of January is to add an extra $200 on top of that – so that our payment for January can be $500 instead of the usual $200. Last month we were able to put $600 toward this loan, so that really helped, too.

I am going to be adding this extra $200 via teaching my private piano lessons, my Wildtree business, and selling items via a local resale group I’m part of on Facebook. I made $29 on that group a few days before New Year’s, so I only need $171 to meet my goal!

I’m super excited to be rid of this business loan….the end is so close! I’ll be back with updates throughout the month to let you know how it’s going so far.

All I have to say is, thank God I got two Starbucks cards for Christmas. ;)

What about you? Have you ever done a no-spend month? Is it something you would ever consider?

2011: Our Family’s Year in Review

2011-12-29T08:57:00.001-08:00

This is the second or third year I’ve done this; and honestly it’s for my own memory’s sake and not for any other reason. I don’t pretend that it’s interesting! lol But 2011 was a crazy year for us (hello, new house and adoption process beginning!) so I want to document it here in one post.

{January and February and beginning of March}

Had some crushing losses on houses – a total of 3 in this time that we walked through, fell in love with, signed paperwork for, and then “lost.” Super discouraging time but kept pressing on and looking at houses!

{late March}

Found out we were getting a house!! (Praise God!) We got the call when we were out at the movie theater seeing The Adjustment Bureau so that movie will always hold an oddly special place in my heart. Totally started bawling from happiness when we got the call.

{April}

Armed with the knowledge that we were finally getting a house, we went our very first adoption informational meeting, led by Connecticut Child and Family Services. We heard all about the options open to us and got a good overview of our choices.

{May}

I traveled to Cedarville with my parents to see my sweet sissy-poo graduate from college.

Closed on our house on Monday, May 16th (9 months and 1 day from when we moved in with my parents…YES I was counting). Took a week to paint, start a wall demo, and move in; slept in our house the first time the following Sunday night.

We also had our first house visitors that month! Josh and Lindsay and Jake (our BFFs) came to visit us over Memorial Day weekend. Jake finally got to see the beach, which is good because the poor kid had only been saying “beach” since February…lol!

{I love these two sweet boys!}

{June and July}

During these months we explored several different avenues for adoption (five in all). We continually got doors closed. It was an extremely frustrating time but we continued to keep pursing our options.

I was also asked to the maid of honor in the wedding of one of my oldest and dearest high school friends! She was in my wedding and I am thrilled to be in hers. She’s getting married next June.

On July 8th our sweet boy turned TWO! Since we still felt freshly-moved-in, we decided to have a very simple family dinner with just my parents, my grandparents, my brother and his girlfriend (now fiancé!) and my sister. Chris’s parents watched Luke eat his cake via Skype. I cooked an Italian-themed dinner. It was sweet and simple.

{August}

We celebrated our FIVE year wedding anniversary! We had big plans to go to Boston, but for a variety of reasons, we chose not to go. It is still on the list for the future! We went to Cheesecake Factory instead – one of our favorites, plus we ate there on our honeymoon the night before we flew to Mexico, so it always reminds us of that happy time. :)

I also became an independent representative for Wildtree! I sell 100%natural food products via home parties. It’s a super fun source of outside income from me…and I get to talk about one of my favorite subjects….healthy eating. ;)

August also ended up being the month that we lost power for five and a half days due to Hurricane Irene…..*shudder*. I hope we don’t have to go through that again anytime soon!

{September}

On the 4th, my sister got married! I was the maid of honor, Luke was the ring bearer, and Chris and I sang/played at the ceremony. It was SO much fun – I wish we could do it all again….except not…you know what I mean!

On the 17th, Chris turned 28 and my brother got engaged to a wonderful girl. We celebrated with an engagement dinner that night.

We also made our way to Cedarville for our 5-year reunion, which stretched into the first weekend of….

{October}

Being at Cedarville with friends was a BLAST. It was super hard to be away from Luke that long, but all-in-all, I don’t regret it. We got to spend a few days with some of our most favorite people on the planet. I’m already looking forward to the 10-year! :)

Also this month, we had our very first home adoption meeting with our social worker! I realize that I haven’t actually shared this here yet, but we officially started on the path to foster-adoption through the state of Connecticut! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! We are currently in the thick of the paperwork/parenting classes aspect of adoption, and hope to be “ready” for a child (on paper) by the spring.

We hosted Chris’s parents for the weekend. It was fun to show them our house and the area. Luke absolutely loved having some one-on-one time with his grandparents!

I started teaching piano lessons again. So thankful for the chance to keep using my music teacher skills and to make some extra money for our family.

{November}

We hosted Thanksgiving at our house – first time ever! We kept it low-key with just my parents, my grandparents, my brother, and Chris and Luke and I. My sister and her husband weren’t able to make it up from Tennessee. :(

Besides missing my sister and her husband, it was a blast! I cooked my very first turkey and nobody keeled over from food poisoning. I was TIRED at the end of the day, though!

{December}

I turned 27 on the 7th. Chris ended up with my birthday off so that was a wonderful surprise. And something I will now expect from here on out. haha

This was the very first Christmas (we’ve been married for a total of six Christmases now) that we were able to celebrate on our own. All the other years we had been staying with my parents over the Christmas holiday, so our Christmas morning had been with them. It was such a gift to be able to have Christmas, just the three of us. We got up, took our time, and had a quiet, peaceful morning before heading out to my parents’ house. I loved every minute of it. :)

{Christmas Eve at my aunt and uncle’s house}

Looking forward to spending New Year’s with some very special friends!

Well, that wraps it up for our family recap! Thanks so much for following along – see you NEXT YEAR! Ha. Ha. HA. ;)

Super Quick and Easy Ornament Garland

2011-12-20T18:09:00.001-08:00

I promised a tutorial for my ornament garlands that I showed you in my Christmas tour – and I didn’t want to disappoint my ~~millions of~~ fans.

Just take a deep breath, because the materials needed might take your breath away.

Are you ready for this? You’ll need:

ornaments

and

ribbon

and {breathe!}

duck tape

Don’t you just love projects that only need three materials?!

{By the way, is it duct tape or duck tape? I think it’s duck. Right? Kinda like anyways. Are you supposed to write anyways or anyway? Anyone know these important adult things that I apparently didn’t get the memo on?}

Anyway(s?), thanks to my lovely sister for showing me this inspiration picture, which she originally found on Pinterest.

Source: mintlovesocialclub.com via Jessica - thisblessedlife on Pinterest

I have been wanting to make an ornament wreath for years but I’ve read that they’re complicated and then I saw this ornament garland and I got so excited to make it. And then I read the tutorial and saw all the different sized ornaments I was going to have to buy for it, and I got a little disappointed. Until I decided that I was going to just wing it and go ahead with what I had.

Because I don’t know about you guys, but when I get ready to start something – be it a recipe or a craft – I realllllllly hate having to stop. I usually just try to figure out a way to make it work.

Let’s just say that “She was a patient woman” will definitely NOT be inscribed on my tombstone someday.

So basically all I did was grab ornaments that I got from Target on clearance for less than a dollar two years ago for the red and silver one:

And grab some champagne ornaments I got at the Dollar Tree two years ago for the one on my entryway/dresser/hutch thing:

I also grabbed some spare ribbon from my stash (I always save ribbon; you never know when you can use it!) and seriously just slid the ornaments down the ribbon.

That is it.

I didn’t worry about different sizes or different colors or anything like that, although I did try to alternate colors and/or patterns (the champagne ones are both matte and sparkly).

Then secure it with duck/duct tape to your desired surface and voila.

Don’t you just love an easy project???!!! Finally, right?

Quick, easy, simple, frugal, pretty, shiny ornament garland. I love it when those words come together in a sentence.

My one tip is to use ribbon that’s on the thicker side (like in my picture above). Because if you go with thin ribbon, it may or may not be able to withstand the weight and it may or may not crash down at 3 in the morning and you may or may or lie in bed with a heart panting fast because you are sure someone broke into the house by throwing a rock in the window and you are waiting to see if they are going to try to crawl in before you wake your husband up frantically. Until you realize it was all your fault and now you’re mad because you’re awake at 3 am and you know there are broken ornaments all over your carpet that will need to be cleaned up in the morning.

So please, trust me on this and go with the thick ribbon. :)

Have fun!

My Favorite Things Party {2011}

2011-12-15T20:52:00.001-08:00

I have to preface by saying that it’s a little ironic for me to join this party each year, since the majority of the things in my house were purchased at Goodwill or because I had a coupon. :)

But I’m joining again because…..well, I can’t help myself. It’s so much fun!

Here’s a list of the top 10 things I’m loving in 2011:

{1} Lindt Dark Chocolate: A Touch of Sea Salt

You know a list is gonna be good when it starts out with chocolate, right?! You saw me talk about this in my Fridge & Freezer Vlog – seriously, SO good. Mmmmmmmmm. Good stocking stuffer for basically any woman in your life. Or man. I’m not going to judge. lol

{2} Old Navy V-Neck Cardigan {in Navy and Red}

I bought two of these earlier this year, and I love them. They are 100% cotton and the perfect length. They are on clearance right now for $15. That’s a great price for a sweater that is classic enough to wear for years.

{3} Point of Grace: A Christmas Story

It seriously doesn’t feel like Christmas to me until I pop this cd into the player (am I the only person on the planet who doesn’t have an ipod dock? Yes? Okay, just checking…) This cd got me through all my years of college finals. It’s gorgeous.

79 reviews on Amazon and a 5-star rating. You know you want to buy it…..

{4} Kirkland’s Golden Rosette Mirror

I know I posted about this already, but I am crazy about my birthday-present-mirror from Kirkland’s. It’s a little bit darker in real life than it shows online, but definitely still gorgeous. It’s temporarily out of stock but I’m sure they’ll be bringing it back soon! I knew I wanted a big mirror for my birthday, and at $49.99 on sale, this was way, way more affordable than a lot of the other ones I saw online.

{5} The Help

I saw this last week on my birthday and it was really, really, really good. Like, really good. I want to watch it again! I was totally mesmerized by Southern life in the 60’s. So, so so good. Did I say that already? lol Now I totally need to read the book!

{6} Anthro Farmer’s Egg Crate

{Here’s an example of how Sherry from Young House Love uses hers.}

A few months ago, I saw a blogger use this to organize her earrings on her dresser. Brilliant! I may or may not have a sweet sister who may or may not work at Anthro and who may or may not have purchased this for me for Christmas this year… {Hooray!}

{7} Rimmel Lasting Finish Pro Nail Polish in “Burgundy Flirt”

No, it’s not a “trendy” nail polish brand, but I absolutely love this Rimmel polish for the winter months. It’s dark without being creepy and red without being too holiday-ish. You can get it at basically any drug store or Target, and besides the color itself, I LOVE the fact that the brush is flat. Genius!

{8} Target Cable-Knit Stockings

I already showed them in my Christmas Home Tour yesterday, but I wanted to share them again here: I love my Target stockings! They are $13 each, which adds up when you’re buying multiples, but I realized after shopping for a few weeks online that it’s really a fabulous price.

{9} “Ribba” picture ledge from Ikea

I am totally in love with these picture ledges I purchased a few months ago at Ikea. They were $15 a piece and I am so, so happy I bought them! They screw right into the wall and they have a little lip on the edge (as you can see), which is great for leaning frames or other objects. If you go to the store to buy them, look in the picture and frames department (not in the shelving area).

{10} Taking Care of the “Me” in “Mommy by Lisa Welchel

A friend recently gave me this book after she was finished with it. I am about 75% done with it and honestly have to say that it’s well worth the read. Lisa is full of practical, real-life ideas of how to multi-task throughout your day so you can be more organized and disciplined – and thus have more time for taking care of the things that nurture your soul and spirit. I highly recommend it!

Head over to Melissa’s fabulous blog, 320 Sycamore, to see who else is joining in the fun. Have a fabulous weekend, everyone!

P.S. My little sister is a brand-new blogger and she’s joining this party for the first time! It would make my day if you’d stop by and visit her! She has a great list. ;)

Christmas Tour of Homes 2011

2011-12-14T17:42:00.001-08:00

I love that I just got to type those words into my title!

It’s here – it’s finally here!

Those of you who have been reading for a while know that we didn’t get to celebrate Christmas in our own house last year. We had sold our house in PA, moved to CT, and were living with my parents for an undetermined time (9 months and one day, but who was counting?) until finally, finally, God brought us to our house that we live in now.

So I didn’t get a chance to decorate for Christmas last year. I clicked through the 2010 Tour of Homes and tried not to cry and just prayed SO hard that God would give us a house soon.

Well, here I am! A testament to God’s faithfulness, that’s for sure.

Let’s get started!

First of all, welcome to our house! If you were here in real life, you’d probably hear the “Tender Tennessee Christmas” station playing on Pandora when you walked in. it’s a great mix of old-school songs and newer ones. I really, really like it –you should try it out!

{By the way, you should be able to click on any picture to enlarge it.}

So, let’s start with our living room. We don’t have an entry way (just a coat closet!), so this dresser/hutch is the first thing you see when you walk in the front door.

I made a SUPER easy ornament garland (I promise I will post a tutorial some time!) and then set my Willow Tree nativity on it so it’s the first thing you see when we walk in. You can see how I made the burlap trees here.

Moving on to the hallway, I just topped Chris’s grandma’s antique mirror with 4 sparkly berry sprigs I got this year from Michael’s.

In the bathroom, I printed out this free page from Jones Design Company and popped it in an Ikea frame. I put extra ornaments and sprigs from the tree into a yard sale jar.

Oh, and keeping our feet warm is this super fun mat from Target ($2.50 this year).

In our dining room, I just took branches from the lower part of our tree and added more berry sprigs and two giant ornaments that I found at Goodwill last year. I made another ornament garland (what can I say, they’re addicting!). Can you spot our little elf? ;)

In the frame is our Christmas card from 2007.

On top of the kitchen island, I took ornaments I got 90% off last year at Target (loooove the bright colors) and put them in a Goodwill cylinder.

The candle and plate on my oven are both from Goodwill!

I took a piece of super-ugly “art” from Goodwill and rolled it with chalkboard paint this summer to make a moveable chalkboard.

I’ve started putting up Christmas cards on my new corkboard from Home Goods (which I am totally in love with, by the way). I would love it if I ran out of space by Christmas! ;)

I looooove this pillow I got at Goodwill a few years ago (and it’s sitting on my Pier One via Goodwill chair!) Yeah, are you sensing a theme in my house?! Mama loves her a good thrift store. lol

Here is my sweet baby boy sitting with it TWO years ago!!

This photo is a little dark because it’s right in front of the window, but here’s a little wintery vignette I put together, all from stuff I already had around the house – and most of it I’ve had for years!

On top of this bookcase I just took red tree garland (clearance from CVS years ago) and put it around a white candle. The red and blue kid frames are from Goodwill and I’ll let Luke keep them in his room in another year or two.

This picture was our Christmas card from 2009. I’m still totally in love with it. Pretty sure no matter how hard I try I won’t be able to top it, ever. :)

Love my little polar bear in front of his very first tree! :)

Since this is the first Christmas EVER that we’ve spent Christmas morning together as our own little family, I finally bought Christmas stockings! I found these at Target this year for $13. I love that they’re traditional and cozy-looking. And they’re lined on the inside, so there’s no worry about tearing a hole in them with gifts.

And no, the fact that there’s four stockings does NOT indicate any kind of announcement from me! :) I just bought four on the faith that God will grace us with another baby at some point in the future. I am literally aching for another baby and and praying so hard that by next Christmas we will have another little one in our home. (We are in the process (!) of adopting from the state foster care system – yes, I know a post on that is loooong overdue!)

Oh and the stockings aren’t hung yet because I have a two-year-old boy. Enough said. :)

Last but not least, here’s our tree! Growing up, we always got our tree from the same farm (a old family friend), and this year we got ours from there as well. A lot of my inspiration this year for decorating came from those 90% off ornaments I mentioned before! I love the lime green and sparkly red look. I added more of those Target ornaments to our tree, as well as our other sentimental ones that make an appearance each year.

I got the ribbon 50% off from Michael’s and used this video tutorial to make the bow. It reminds me of Dorothy’s slippers every time I look at it. :)

I’ve been buying Luke a Hallmark ornament each year. In 2009 I bought him the jungle one (which was perfect because his room was jungle-themed). Last year I got him one of those miniature pull toys.

This year he got Curious George, but he accidentally broke it and I haven’t had a chance to super-glue it yet. Life with a toddler! :)

I love having a little bell on the top of my tree, in honor of It’s a Wonderful Life, of course. :)

My favorite ornaments, hands down, are these two of our sweet boy. These pictures were taken in December of 2008 and they will always be so special to me. Being newly pregnant at Christmas made Mary’s story so much more real to me than it ever had been before.

Well, that’s our house, everyone! I hope you enjoyed the tour!

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2011!!

~~Ridiculously excited to be~~ Linking to:

The Nester’s Christmas Tour of Homes 2011

Kelly’s Show Us Your Life Christmas Homes Tour 2011

Miscellany Monday {15}: Birthday and Cinnamon Roll Edition

2011-12-11T17:25:00.001-08:00

People, I made the Pioneer Woman’s cinnamon rolls on Saturday. One of the better decisions of my adult life. I bought her cookbook this summer when Border’s was going out of business (although you can find the recipe here as well), and I’ve been wanting to make these for months.

They are holy- cow-is-this-for-real-get-outta-town good.

We ate four between the two of us and then had to freeze the other pans immediately, or they would have been gone last night.

I’m also planning on trying her mac ‘n’ cheese recipe this week.

In other words, just roll me into the New Year, baby. I’ll be taking gifts of elastic waist pants for Christmas.

____________________

So, I turned 27 on Wednesday. Chris made me feel better by telling me that really 27 is closer to 25 than 30, since you can round down, at least until June. I’m allll about that. In all honesty, though, I had one of the best birthdays I can ever remember. Seriously. Through the years I’ve had school on my birthday, then in college I often had finals and/or vocal juries, then one year when I was teaching I actually had to conduct TWO concerts on my birthday (not scheduled by me, clearly).

This year, Chris was able to take off work (there was a whole big issue with him not getting his original vacation days, but this part of it I was okay with!). We went out to breakfast (my fave), did some errands together, came home for the afternoon and then went back out after dark to get Starbucks and look at Christmas lights (I had a free coupon from Starbucks for my birthday….any size….I ordered a venti, baby. First time ever! I was milking that free coupon for all it was worth! lol)

When we came home we watched The Help. I laughed, I cried. Absolutely loved it. I highly recommend it!

________________

This is what I’m getting for my birthday and part of Christmas. I have been wanting a big wall mirror for months now, and I looked on every conceivable website to find one that I liked. This one from Kirkland’s won out. I waited until it went on sale and then ordered it. It shipped last week so I am anxiously awaiting it to get here! I want to put it above our head since we don’t have a headboard. Except I have visions of it crashing down on us in the middle of the night and both of us going blind. So we’ll see. When I went to the website just now to grab the photo, I noticed that it’s out of stock! Whew – made it just in time! :)

____________________

When we water our tree, it smells more piney. Isn’t that so weird?!

________________

Our Christmas cards are in the house and mostly addressed and ready to go. I was definitely getting a claw hand yesterday afternoon – wishing I had coughed up a few bucks and ordered address return labels a month or two ago! How many Christmas cards do you all send out? I do 50, and that’s my max. Just because. lol

________________

If I can get my act together, I will give you a tutorial this week on how to make an ornament garland. If I can’t get my act together (much more likely), I can at least promise you that I will be back for two parties later in the week: The Nester’s Christmas Tour of Homes on Thursday (it’s like Fall Fashion week for home bloggers), and then 320 Sycamore’s Favorite Things party on Friday (I have participated the last two years – see 2009 and 2010.)

I loooove both of these parties and seriously look forward to them every year. I love to sit down with coffee or hot chocolate and browse through the links. You get such great ideas! If you’ve never joined before, you definitely should this year!

See you then!

P.S. Chris actually has tomorrow and Tuesday off (hooray!), so we are going to watch Elf tonight. I love that movie. I actually saw it on my first date ever with Chris! Except it wasn’t a date, because we were “just friends,” but he planned it and paid. So…..basically yes, a date. :) It’s on sale this week at Target for $7.99!

Our Fun Weekend

2011-12-05T05:57:00.001-08:00

What a fun family weekend we had together!

On Saturday morning, I made pumpkin pancakes for all of us (Luke calls them “caycakes” and they are one of his most favorite things to eat. Plus I love hearing him say that, so it’s a win-win. lol)

(My boy is always in motion.)

Then we loaded up in the car and headed for the tree farm!

We had decided that we weren’t even going to mention the animals there to Luke until after we got our tree (see last post!), but unfortunately he heard some of the dogs barking before we got down to the field. Pretty sure he said “Doggie!” about 17,000 times while we were looking for the right tree. Luke may or may not have gotten spanked in the Christmas tree field. Yay for happy family memories!! haha (But hey, you try finding a run-away toddler in a a giant field of trees! He kept trying to run away to the dog, even after we told him “not yet” repeatedly – unfortunately it had to be done.)

We did let him play with the dogs and see the chickens after we paid, though. (He calls chickens “chichens” right now. So cute.)

After we got our tree, we decided to go to Five Guys for lunch since we were starving. My husband loooooooooooves that place (burgers and fries and root beer are his love languages), and one recently opened up somewhat near our house.

Not gonna lie, girls…..I enjoyed every last bite. I got mine with grilled onions, grilled mushrooms, and barbeque sauce. Delish. :)

We came home and set up the tree while Luke took his nap. I listened to Harry Connick’s Christmas cds while I put on the ornaments. It just feels sacrilegious to NOT listen to Christmas music while you decorate your tree, doesn’t it?

We had leftover chili for dinner and then after Luke went to bed Chris humored me by watching The Family Stone with me. I looooove that movie. I’ve seen it probably 5 times now…and it just.never.gets.old. I love movies that can make me laugh AND cry. Chris asked me why I love it so much…I love the beautiful New England house, how crazy the family is, how much they all love each other, how it’s funny and sad at the same time, how it’s about Christmas time, how it stars Rachel McAdams……do I need to go on?! (Chris calls her my “girl crush” lol). We turned off all the lights and I made hot chocolate and we sat there together. And of course I cried at the end.

I told Chris he was allowed to play a game on his phone as long as he sat next to me so I could lean on him. hahaha! He did play a game for about the first 20 minutes but then he turned it off and watched it with me. :)

Yesterday we stayed home from church because Luke’s nose has been really nasty and runny lately so we certainly weren’t sending him to the church nursery. I was contemplating going by myself so that I could go to choir practice, but I keep waking up with a really bad sore throat in the morning (??) so I decided not to go either. We just had a lazy morning together, playing with Luke and organizing the playroom some more. It was great. This afternoon I did run a few errands by myself though – I went to 9 stores allllll by myself! It was glorious.

I did a little bit of all different kinds of shopping (groceries, home stores, etc.) – I stopped at Michaels to get ribbon for our tree topper and some pretty glittery berries to make garlands out of (like my fall garlands here). I am really into glittery reds, greens, and whites this year. (Doesn’t that ribbon totally make you think of Dorothy’s ruby slippers?!)

I popped into Hallmark to find Luke his yearly ornament. I ended up finding this George one – perfect for my boy! It only ended up costing me $4 and change after coupons. I let him hold it when I came home AND it’s already broken. Yup. Hopefully hot-glueable, though. Just keepin’ it real!

I also stopped at Home Goods and ending up spending my birthday money from my grandmother there. I picked up this giant corkboard frame:

Isn’t she SO pretty?!! I have been wanting something for the empty space above our phone and answering machine. I know what you’re thinking: Why wouldn’t you just make one?

Well truth is….I just don’t feel like it. hahaha! I love this color and I love how heavy and solid it is. I wouldn’t be able to spray paint well for a few more months since it’s cold outside and spray paint doesn’t set well when it’s cold like this. I love it, I had the money to spend, I bought it, the end, amen.

Today I think Luke and I are going to spend a day at home. I intentionally plan on at least one day a week to be at home (both to save gas and to give Luke a break and to get stuff done). I always schedule it on days when Chris isn’t working overtime, though….because otherwise mama starts to feel a litttttttle bit crazy by 5:30!

Have a great day, everyone!

Christmas: It’s Not All-or-Nothing.

2011-12-02T17:59:00.001-08:00

I am a first-born child who grew up to become an elementary teacher. To say that I have issues with perfectionism is putting it lightly! lol As a kid, though, I was waaaaay more high-strung than I am now. God has worked in my heart a lot over the years to realize that perfectionism isn’t really the best way to go through life. I find being laid-back to be a LOT more fun….plus people seem to like you more! haha :)

One area I still struggle with, though, is with events and family traditions. I love making memories and having yearly things to look forward to and I make a big deal out of holidays and birthdays (and yes, the actual day on the calendar is SUPER important to me).

I tend to build up certain days and events so much in my head…and then when one part of the “perfect plan” goes wrong, I am crushed. My sweet husband has coached (?) me through this a lot over the past 7 years that we’ve been together. I’ve gotten a lot better about letting things slide and finding the joy in the unexpected. I really have.

However.

It has been TWO YEARS since I have been able to decorate for Christmas – not to mention that we have never, in all the years we’ve been married, spent a Christmas morning together alone as a couple (we’ve always been visiting in CT, and thus staying with my parents).

So, needless to say, heading into this season, I’ve had a LOT of expectations on the line. (Pinterest, while I am more than obsessed, definitely doesn’t help with that.) But God (and my husband!) have really been working in my heart the last few weeks as I’ve been thinking about the upcoming season. And you know what I realized?

The great thing about Christmas is that it comes every year.

That perfect photograph of the three of us that I wanted for my Christmas cards that didn’t happen because my toddler didn’t get the memo about photo shoots being happy?

Another year!

The gorgeous Advent calendar I was going to make to help us celebrate the season, before I realized that my 2-year-old could care less about things like that right now?

Another year!

I can go on. :)

Tomorrow we are going to get our Christmas tree from the tree farm my family always went to when I was a kid. I love it there – it’s so pretty, there’s animals, plus the nostalgia-level is basically overflowing for me.

I have visions that we will get coffee/hot chocolate on the way over, our son will laugh delightedly over the animals, we will get a gorgeous tree and also get some awesome shots of us at the farm.

In reality? Luke will probably cry when we have to leave the animals to get the tree, and odds are he won’t want to be in the picture with us because all he’ll want to do is go back to the animals.

But two out of four isn’t bad! hahaha

You see my point? It’s never going to be perfect, and those ridiculous expectations I have rob me of the joy of living in the moment.

At some point, I will have a 10-year-old who will understand how to smile nicely for the photo….but he won’t giggle when the chickens run away from him.

At some point, I will have a beautiful Advent calendar made for my child(ren) to enjoy….but I won’t have a toddler who is fascinated by the very presence of our resident Elf-on-the-Shelf.

Christmas will come and go every year….and each year there will be new things to enjoy and new things to experience with my family.

It’s not all-or-nothing, and I don’t have to do everything, every year. What a freeing thought!

My Thanksgiving Table Décor {Better Late than Never, Right?!}

2011-11-30T11:46:00.001-08:00

First, let me say thank you so much for all of the offers of prayer and support (and some helpful resources, as well!) in regard to my son’s issues that I talked about in my last post. We have still not heard any word on the referral, but his doctor did warn me that it could take up to a month, especially with the holidays. I am trying to stay patient. :)

My son did, however, touch pizza dough last night as I was rolling it out! I know that sounds absolutely crazy but for us it is HUGE and I wanted to write it down here so I would remember. He was very hesitant and only touched it with one finger at first, but he eventually touched it with more fingers at the same time. And he was actually smiling! He didn’t want to touch it for long, but I’ll take what I can get! :)

Anyway, – big subject change here! lol - onto the Thanksgiving tablescape. You might remember that I mentioned we hosted Thanksgiving this year. I absolutely LOVE this holiday and was so excited to host it for my family. Thankfully, it was a really small gathering (we missed my sister and brother-in-law SO much!), so that took a lot of pressure off of me, mentally. The turkey didn’t dry out and nobody keeled over from food poisoning! Success!!! :)

I wanted to go for peaceful and rustic….not too cluttered. I hope it doesn’t sound snotty to say that I was really happy with how the look of the table turned out! (The reason you don’t see any chairs on the one side is because we have a bench there – it came with the table.)

I found that cylinder at Goodwill and filled it with white beans and an orange candle – both of which I already had. The branches are from the backyard, the mini pods are from Michael’s (you can see them in this post, as well), and the walnuts are part of the centerpiece from my cousin’s wedding last year.

I have my mom to thank for the napkins; they are from Hobby Lobby and she got them when she went to visit my sister in Nashville this fall. We are going to visit my sister in April and I swear I want to bring a completely empty suitcase so I can fill it up with all the stuff from the stores we don’t have up here, like Hobby Lobby and World Market!

I took some oak-tag and used a punch I found at a yard sale a few years ago to make the place tags. Then I used some stamps that I found at the Dollar Spot in Target years ago and used brown ink to make everyone’s name. I wrote “2011” on the back and had everyone write one thing they were thankful for. “Luke” was a popular answer. :) I plan on adding these to our “Thankful Tree” next year! (Oh and for Luke’s I wrote “milk” for him. haha)

This picture (above) is a little blurry, but it shows the chargers. I really wanted something other than the typical shiny gold or red ones you find in a lot of stores. These were pretty brown with embossed acorns and leaves all over them. They were from the Better Homes and Gardens line at Wal-Mart. It cost me $20 for 8 of them (on clearance!), and normally I would have flinched at that price, but I love Thanksgiving and hope to host for many years to come. I think we will certainly get our money’s worth out of them!

A view from the other direction…

And a last one from above.

I already had all my white dishes…I picked up the largest serving platter at Goodwill just a few days before Thanksgiving to finish out what I needed and it was great for holding the turkey! That’s the great thing about white plates….you can use them over and over and over!

Tomorrow is DECEMBER FIRST, people!!! I’m kinda understanding what people in the South must feel like at Christmas right now. It is (relatively) warm and sunny here and not a drop of snow to be found. It doesn’t feel like December at all! I am only a fan of snow before January 1st…after that, I’m totally over it! haha

One last thing: Elf on a Shelf is on sale for $29.95 this week at Target, with a $5 gift card back upon purchase. This is the best retail price I have ever seen for this! (I haven’t looked on ebay or anything like that.) I bought it yesterday and Luke keeps staring at it because it is sitting on our window pane! lol Chris and I were getting a big kick out of watching him last night. I think tomorrow he will start making his daily appearances around the house….. ;)

The Beginning.

2011-11-20T19:57:00.001-08:00

On November 17, 2008, I stood in my bathroom and almost passed out when a second pink line actually appeared on the pregnancy test.

On November 17, 2011, I sat in a room at a pediatrician’s office and bawled my eyes out to my son’s doctor.

It’s crazy what can happen in three years’ time. None of us really have any idea what is around the bend of life at any given moment, do we?

I haven’t been around much lately on my blog because my heart has felt so heavy and my thoughts have felt so clouded and I just haven’t felt like me…at all. For about ten days, I felt like I was walking around with a dark cloud of heaviness over my head. Everything felt black…and foggy…..and sad. I thought for sure I was getting a stomach ulcer, I had no appetite, I felt like I couldn’t think straight, and the tears just kept on coming.

I’ve shared a little bit on here before about my son’s food struggles since we moved to Connecticut about 15 months ago. What we thought at first was maybe super-picky eating, maybe stubborn-ness, maybe do-we-just-need-to-be-tougher-parents? has slowly and surely proven itself to be much, much more than any of that.

Our boy has come to the point where we can’t help him on our own anymore. We’ve done everything we can do. Saying that sentence out loud at the doctor last Thursday was what really got the tears to flow.

Simply put – and it’s anything but simple to live out day by day – our son has some moderate to severe sensory issues. These issues really come to a head with food, because Luke has to eat three times a day and the issues come frequently to the surface there. But it also goes way beyond food. It’s crazy to look back at the baby journal I kept for him and realize that all the little things we thought were “quirks” of his add up to a big picture of a sensory disorder. Things like…..inability to breastfeed, freaking out when a sticker or band-aid touched his hand, intense fear of grass on bare feet…the list goes on and on and on.

Add to this innate “sensitivity” (maybe genetic, even?) a major life change during a crucial point in his development, and you basically have a recipe for some serious issues.

My sweet boy frequently gags on food, frequently spits out things he can’t process with his tongue and can’t swallow, and occasionally will vomit it all up. He screams in fear when a new food even gets on his plate, never mind trying to put that scary thing in his mouth. His tolerance for new foods and textures is getting smaller, not larger. Where most kids at almost two and a half are slowly eating a wider and wider range of foods and textures, my son is losing foods all the time that were once previously enjoyed. My son now eats 17 foods (TOTAL), plus milk, water, and juice. We recently lost two more of his favorite foods.

Chris and I have been researching and reading like crazy people. I can’t explain it but about two weeks ago something finally “clicked” that this all was really not.normal.

I don’t have the brain power/mental strength to fully explain all that’s really going on with my sweet boy right now. Over time I will be documenting his story here so that others can hopefully find help and information in my posts. There is a serious lack of information for parents going through this….and by “this” I mean any number of things that he could be diagnosed with: food neophobia, sensory food aversion, pediatric feeding disorder, and sensory integration dysfunction are four of the possibilities.

His pediatrician, after two visits, agrees with me that there is some serious stuff going on here. Luke, thank God, has been referred to the pediatric feeding team at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center. There is a group there comprised of a occupational therapist, a speech therapist, a dietician, and a behavioral psychologist that all work together as team to help each child. I truly believe those people can help my son. Now we wait for the referral to be processed….and wait to see if insurance will cover the evaluation and subsequently weekly therapy sessions.

Last November, I cried and cried because we were living with my parents and there did not seem to be a house in our near future.

This November, I have that long-prayed for house, but I’ve been crying and crying because I just wish my son would eat yogurt…..or spaghetti…..or pizza…or eggs…or applesauce….or really just something – anything!!!! – new or old that he used to love.

What a difference a year makes.

So what am I left with?

Life will always throw curve balls. Life will almost always present sadness in some form. And there will almost always be the death of certain dreams and hopes and expectations.

I can choose to bawl my eyes out over the fact that there is not ONE Thanksgiving food that my son will allow himself to eat on Thursday.

I can choose to let myself become overwhelmed with despair at the nutrients my son is most likely lacking in and the long, long, long road of therapy ahead of us that may not even by covered by insurance and also (potentially) may not even end up working for him.

I can choose to be overcome with jealousy when I hear parents talking about the great foods their kid eats or see a toddler happily scarfing down normal food at a restaurant.

I can choose to be overwhelmed with sadness and fear at the thought of Luke’s future – how will he go to birthday parties when he won’t touch pizza or hotdogs or french fries? How would he go to summer camp? What if we keep losing foods? What if he continues to eat less and less? Will he always be tiny, even as an adult, because of the nutrients he’s not getting now as a toddler? What if, what if, what if, what if.…….

BUT.

A normally-developing toddler, for whatever reason, is simply not the path that God has chosen for our family – at least not at this present time.

I wish more than anything in the world right now that it was, but it’s just not.

SO. What can I possibly do?

I CAN CHOOSE to “fix my eyes on Jesus” – as my wonderful husband reminds me so often to do.

I CAN CHOOSE to put my faith in my amazing, all-powerful God and not my faith in Aetna Insurance and the pediatric feeding team at Connecticut Children’s.

I CAN CHOOSE to count my blessings – a house that meets our needs so well, a beautiful, happy boy that brings so much joy to us and to others, a beyond-amazing husband that provides me with so much laughter and incredible spiritual advice, the hope of heaven and the gift of the Holy Spirit.

I CAN CHOOSE to be thankful for the health that my boy does have – we have several friends whose kiddos will be struggling with health issues for the rest of their lives, and it is definitely possible that with therapy Luke can be “normal” (I use that word loosely) someday.

I CAN CHOOSE to make the best of the situation….and realize that my blog can hopefully be a platform to help other mommies and daddies out there who feel like they are going crazy and at their wits end over what to do when their sweet kiddo just doesn’t eat like all the other kids do.

I CAN CHOOSE to look beyond tomorrow….and when those dark thoughts enter my mind and make my stomach churn…thoughts that this will never change and Luke will keep getting worse and that he’ll never have all the nutrients he needs….I CAN CHOOSE to renew my mind and replace the bad thoughts with good ones.

It’s definitely not easy, but I am not stuck in despair.

This week of Thanksgiving – my favorite of all holidays in the year –

I CHOOSE JOY, and I CHOOSE JESUS.

Because without them, I am nothing.

Money Saving Mom’s Book and NEW Freezer Cooking Book

2011-11-16T19:08:00.001-08:00

It’s been a crazy week here (more on that another time!) but I wanted to pop on because Crystal Paine, aka Money Saving Mom, is offering a free freezer-cooking e-book and I just couldn’t resist taking her up on it!

All she is asking in return for the free e-book is that you blog, tweet, FB, or pin about her new book (to be released in January), The Money Saving Mom’s Budget.

You guys, I had an opportunity to read a draft copy of this book, and it is FABULOUS. I will have a full-review coming soon, and an opportunity for one of you to win a copy, but let me encourage you to think about pre-ordering it, as well! ALL proceeds – did you hear that?! – ALL PROCEEDS from the book go to Compassion International. Love it.

Anyway, hop on over to her book’s Amazon page to learn more info and to pre-order, if you’d like. And remember, if you’d like to help promote her amazing book in some way, you’ll get a free 45-page e-book in return! Not a bad deal. ;)

Why You Should Sign up for Recyclebank

2011-11-10T12:21:00.001-08:00

Have you heard of Recyclebank yet? It’s a new (to me) site where you enter points and then redeem the points for dozens and dozens of different items. You can earn the points a variety of ways – sometimes there will be short movies or quizzes you can do on the site, or you can enter codes from products you buy.

The reason I am LOVING it is that the points are high-value, and the rewards are low value. I’ve been entering my points at Pampers ever since Luke was born, and a big package of diapers might only get you 60 points….and a magazine subscription can need upwards of 1200 points. (Not knocking the Gifts to Grow program…I’ve gotten a lot of Starbucks gift cards that way! I’m just saying that it takes a lot longer.)

But on Recyclebank? So many of the rewards are super low in point requirements. For instance, just this week I got a magazine subscription to Better Homes and Gardens (115 points), and with just a few more points I can earn one for Martha Stewart Living (230 points)! Magazines are such a splurge for me – I love to read and I love getting something happy in the mail, don’t you? I currently get 4 magazines in the mail that I didn’t have to pay for, thanks to deal sites, and now I’ll be getting two more! Hooray!

I’ve tried different survey sites before, and I can’t stand when you take 10 minutes to do a survey, only to find out you’re “not qualified” for the “real” one. Ahhhh!! Drives me bonkers. Recyclebank is easy. There’s no qualification or long, lengthy surveys. The videos might be 2-3 minutes long, at most, and several give you 25 points. A survey is likely to be one question long, and give you 5 points or more.

The way I’ve been getting lots of points is by redeeming the 50-point codes on the inside of my Kashi organic cereal boxes. (So are you doing the math? That’s less than 3 boxes of cereal to get a free year-long subscription – and that’s if I ONLY entered cereal box codes and did nothing else.)

Seriously guys, it’s so easy! Give it a try! :) I’d love it if you could would sign up via my my personal referral link. I get 10 points for every person that signs up under me. Then you can share it with your friends and start getting points yourself!

Now go get those free magazines! :)

P.S. Do you subscribe to Money Saving Mom? She often lists on her site when new videos are available to watch on Recyclebank so you don’t have to constantly check the site.

Deals at CVS & Big Y {Week of 11/6/11}–for Thanksgiving and Operation Christmas Child boxes!

2011-11-09T04:51:00.001-08:00

Hey guys! Just wanted to pop on here and share a few deals I found this week that might interest some of you. With Thanksgiving coming up (and at my house this year!!), plus, the deadline for Operation Christmas Child boxes arriving soon, I am on above-average deal alert over here!

{I realize that Big Y won’t apply to some of you, but I wanted to post it here for the sake of my fellow New England girls.}

- Ivory 3-packs of soap (plain or aloe) are 99 cents this week at Big Y, as are 2-packs of Irish Springs at CVS. These are great to put in your shoeboxes! Just be sure to place inside a plastic sandwich baggie (per box instructions). It’s also a kind gesture to include a fluffy washcloth, since it would be really sad if the child receiving your soap didn’t have a washcloth to go with it!

- You know from my Fridge and Freezer Vlog that I usually buy the Francesco Rinaldi “To Be” brand of spaghetti sauce. It is on sale this week, 2/$3 at Big Y. There was a 35 cents off coupon in this Sunday’s paper, plus you can print out two additional 35 cent coupons by following this link, courtesy of For the Mommas. The coupons will all double, making the sauce only 80 cents a jar - an AWESOME stock-up price!

- Canned veggies this week are 2/$1 at CVS, and Ocean Spray cranberry sauce is $1! This is great for making things like green bean casserole at Thanksgiving (yes, clean eating goes out the window when you’re hosting traditional Thanksgiving for your family! lol)

- Also at CVS this week is a GREAT deal on Hallmark cards: Buy any 3 cards (excluding boxed sets), get $3 Extra Care Bucks back. The great thing? This deal works on 99 cent cards! So you can spend $2.97 on cards and then get $3 back to spend in-store! I have lots of nieces and nephews, plus plenty of other relatives to buy birthday cards for…I always stock up on cards throughout the year!

- And if you are still in the diaper stage like we are, you can roll those $3 ECB from the cards into a good deal on diapers this week, as well. Boxes of Pampers diapers are $19.99 and are giving back $4 ECB. There was also a $2/1 box of Pampers diapers coupon in last week’s paper, if you still have that. So combine your $3 ECB from the card deal, plus your $2 coupon, and you’re spending $14.99 for a box of diapers, plus you have $4 left to spend in the store! (Also, CVS has a promotion now where if you buy 6 packages of diapers, the 7th is free – and the boxes count as TWO packages. That free coupon really helped me out a few weeks ago when we didn’t have any more money in our grocery budget and we were out of diapers! Good timing, CVS. :)

- Oh, and lastly I wanted to share that the “One Pie” brand of pumpkin is on sale for 2/$3 at Big Y. (Libby’s is supposed to be on sale at CVS for the same price but my store didn’t have any pumpkin in stock at all). This is a great price on pumpkin – I’m stocking up so that we can enjoy pumpkin waffles and pancakes all year.

Anyone else found some awesome deals for upcoming events? I’m all ears!