Into The Substance

Being in love

2009-10-06T16:13:00.002-05:00

My almost 6 year old just got home from school and declared that she is in love with Colin. I asked her "what does it mean to be in love?" she replied "it's when you see someone in more than one place. I saw Colin at church and at school so now we're in love.

Thank God that's all it means right now! I'm not ready for that drama

Awake...

2009-10-05T09:36:00.002-05:00

Thought I would direct you to one of my favorite posts ever by one of the most "enlightened" people I know. I want to be awake!

Paramore brings MTV to Franklin

2009-09-23T09:24:00.003-05:00

It's pretty safe to say that Paramore are the biggest rock stars in Franklin, Tennessee, which is why it's rather strange that they can wander its picturesque streets (or ride around them on bikes) without receiving as much as a wayward glance from anyone.

more here

true restfulness...

2009-09-14T15:10:00.002-05:00

"...we make restfulness yet another activity, something we do, something we are refreshed by... then we return to normal life. True restfulness, though, is a form of awareness, a way of being in life. It is living ordinary life with a sense of ease, gratitude, appreciation, peace, and prayer. We are restful when ordinary life is enough."

from The Shattered Lantern by Ronald Rolheiser

This is something I truly long for...

Dorian Gray

2009-09-03T06:23:00.003-05:00

Yes!!!

(HT: Jesus Needs New PR)

Thought for the day: Enjoy

2009-08-25T07:57:00.003-05:00

For some reason I have a difficult time enjoying the moment. Little moments, big moments, it doesn't matter. I often find myself worrying about what I need to be doing. Or I find myself feeling guilty for these moments when there are so many who are hurting or in some sort of pain. I know that sounds crazy. It's just what I tend to do.

So this morning I made a commitment to be more intentional about enjoying. It is amazing all of the enjoyable moments I have had just in the past hour!

Here are just a few:

Snuggling with a sweet baby.
Listening to the birds chirp.
Feeling the cool, crisp air.
Watching my daughter get on the school bus.
A warm cup of fresh coffee.
The sound of silence.

Yes, the thoughts and worries have tried to creep in already but I'm taking them captive and throwing them away! I will choose to enjoy this day.

On Friendship...

2009-08-21T10:26:00.002-05:00

The greatest gift my friendship can give to you is the gift of your Belovedness. I can give that gift only insofar as I have claimed it for myself. Isn't that what friendship is all about: giving to each other the gift of our Belovedness?

(From Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World by Henri Nouwen)

Grocery Saving Strategy

2009-08-17T11:17:00.004-05:00

I have found myself among the ranks of those who have ventured into the couponing world to save money on grocery and household items. When I first began this adventure I was all in. I quickly realized though that I could not sustain the level of commitment that it took to do what I was doing with 3 kids under 5 under my roof. So, instead of giving up completely, I decided to modify to fit my lifestyle.

I'm writing this post to help others who are in the same position. I simply can not to go to 3 or 4 different grocery and drug stores which is what you have to do to realize the big savings. However, I have been able to trim 150 to 200 a month off of our household budget just using my modified approach. We consider that a substantial savings here at the Slusser house!

So here are a few bullet points for my system that might help you as you come up with your own plan of action.

- Each week I save the coupons booklets found in the Sunday newspaper. I put the date on them and place them by date in a large folder with clear plastic sleeves. I do not clip until time to use. Clipping is overrated. :)

- I shop at ONE STORE ONLY! That store is Publix.

- On Wednesday the nice lady over at Southern Savers posts her weekly list of Publix coupon match-ups and sale items. This list is key!! I copy and paste it into a word doc so that I can delete anything that I dont need and keep the rest for a shopping list. She makes it so easy to match up the coupons to the sales. She also posts a link to printable coupons which I use frequently also. And her service it FREE!

- Stockpiling is another key element of my system. I stockpile my favorite bread, cereals, snacks, sauces, coffee, etc when the prices are the lowest and I NEVER have to pay full price for these items. I cant stress how important this is!!

-I plan ahead and plan my menu around what is on sale that week and what I have in the pantry. This includes meat and vegetables. In-season vegetables are usually the cheapest and they have the best flavor!

Here are some examples for what I pay for certain items using this system:

Bread: 1.80 for Arnold's whole grain which is my favorite bread!
Whole wheat pastas: free to .60 cents
Name brand cereal: usually 1.00 to 1.50 sometimes free
Coffee: 8 o'clock coffee 1.50 to 2.50 each (this is great coffee!)
Spaghetti sauces: never pay over 1.00 and sometimes free for name brand sauces.
Toothpaste: free to .75 cents.

This is the system that has worked for me. It takes me about an hour each week to get everything organized. Hope it helps you as you come up with your own plan! I will be happy to answer any questions you may have in the comment section.

A fun family event

2009-08-13T13:42:00.002-05:00

So this is one of those informational only posts. And sorry, but this is for WC residents.

I would highly recommend the Williamson County Fair this year! We went last night and had a blast. The only problem was, I forgot my camera! Our family of 5 got in for just 6 bucks because someone was gracious enough to give us a buy one get one pass. This is because I forgot the one I printed out! We ate before we went and were able to skip the greasy junk food. The kids were having so much fun they didn't even miss the food. The best part is the farm animal exhibit. It is amazing. The have everything from gigantic horses to alpacas. We went straight to the animal exhibit so that the kids would hopefully be getting tired before we got to the rides. It worked! We only did a few rides because each ride cost 4 to 6 bucks for the two kiddos!

You can do the fair on a tight budget. It just requires a little thinking things through before hand and sticking to your guns when the kids start whining. The look on their faces as they rode those rides and saw all of the amazing farm animals was worth every penny spent and more!

Today is the last BOGO day. Here's the link to a coupon.

I'm back!

2009-08-13T13:27:00.002-05:00

Hey friends. I'm feeling a strong urge to get back into the blog world again. For a while I was feeling dry. When I tried to blog, nothing would come. I wrestled with why I had a blog and if it had any importance whatsoever.

So, for some reason, I'm feeling the call to get this thing going again! I want to share with you some things that have been going on with me. I'm going to put myself out there and share with you some things that are pretty vulnerable. I know I'm risking alot by doing this. There are people who will judge. There are those who will not understand. But I can't worry about them. I am called to share my heart and this is a way that I can do that right now.

Not every post will be deep. Some will be purely informational or just plain ol fun. Some will be interesting to you, others will probably bore you to death. I will talk about politics, religion, and other loaded topics and you probably wont agree with me about everything. This is my blog so it will be about my perspective on these issues. Hopefully we can keep the discussion real but respectful. And yes, please share your point of view. I want to hear from you in the comments! Dialogue makes the blog world so much more interesting!

Thanks for listening. And please let me know if I have not linked you on my side bar. Link love is greatly appreciated!

Blog Neglect

2009-05-27T21:53:00.003-05:00

My friend Jen told me tonight that she is tired of seeing the same picture every time she visits my blog. I know! I've been neglecting my blog and I have no excuses. So, I will attempt to post more frequently.

Since nothing is coming to the forefront of my mind to post about, I will give you a quick baby update.

Little man Henry will be here in 3 to 4 weeks! We are all so excited to meet him. I'm pretty sure he's ready to enter the world because he likes to stretch out alot. He especially likes to stretch out on my bladder and my hips! I also think he might be my first baby with hair because of the massive amount of heartburn I'm experiencing. His ultrasound picture looks alot like his big brother and sister. I'm hoping that he might just look a little like his mama though, unlike his bro and sis! I guess it doesn't really matter because they're all so darn cute!

My parents are graciously watching the precious cherubs this week while Ted and I "get stuff done" around the house. We're calling this our little staycation. I think we really just needed rest though because not much has been done this week.

Promise I'll try really hard to keep you updated on Henry's upcoming arrival!

Our Baby

2009-03-19T19:09:00.000-05:00

kids...

2009-03-13T22:27:00.002-05:00

It's funny how kids can say the sweetest things that make you feel so good in one breath,(see post below) and then in the next, completely send you back down to reality.

Riding home the other day from school, we're talking about how firemen sometimes have to rescue cats from trees. When out of nowhere comes, "Mom, when you die we can get a cat." (I'm allergic to cats)

Thankfully, when I asked her what she would prefer to have, me or a cat, she chose me. :)

My Twin

2009-03-08T22:54:00.002-05:00

I got my hair cut last week and my daughter loved it so much she decided to get the same hair cut. Now she tells everyone that we're twins. I can't tell you how happy that makes me.

There's no place like Walmart

2009-03-05T17:58:00.002-06:00

I was able to get a pedicure while I waited on an oil change today! If I had thought about it, I would have brought my dog for a grooming, too. Now all they need is a kid's play area and a walk in medical clinic, which probably wont be to far away.

Surviving the Economic Crisis

2009-03-02T08:40:00.002-06:00

Surprisingly, the current economic crisis has actually had a mostly positive effect on my family. I'd like to preface what I'm about to say with this: As a suburban middle class family, I can't even begin to pretend that we're struggling. We still have jobs and a sufficient income, which is more than lots of people can say right now. So, we're trying to watch our own spending so that we can help those in our own back yard who are not fairing as well. We're all in this together!

So, here are some things that we're doing to cut costs around here:

Consigning! My goal is to buy almost all of my kid's clothes on consignment this year. So far, I've had great success with the sales in our area. Others are doing the same and it's working out great for everyone! The deeper issue for me is not feeling like my kids have to keep up with the latest fashion trends. They are adorable non matter what adorns them!

Coupons, coupons, coupons! We started doing this a year ago and it has revolutionized how we do grocery shopping. I would estimate we saved a couple of thousand dollars last year on groceries. 2 great resources for me has been thegrocerygame.com and faithfulprovisions.com. We also use those clipper coupons for restaurants and we share food! Carrabbas is a great place to share a meal because they're so huge. Works for our budget and our waistline!

Less trips to Target! When I first became a SAHM, one of our regular outings was Target. I know... crazy! I was board, we needed to get out of the house and it was close. No longer! We go to Target only when we need something now. During the winter our outings now consist of the library, the mall playground, chick fil a, McDonalds and of course the YMCA.

Finally, for me it was all about a heart change. I'm slowly beginning to understand that relationships are where it's at, not how much stuff you buy or what your house looks like. There are always deeper issues that drive what we do and I'm finally working on those issues. Believe it or not, that has been the best thing for our family economic condition!

My new favorite coffee

2009-02-14T10:47:00.004-06:00

LaMai Coffee. I had my first cup this morning. Wow! The aroma is amazing and the flavor does not disappoint. The story behind the coffee makes it much more valuable though.

The La Mai Coffee Story

La Mai is an organic, fairly traded coffee that is bringing hope to the people of northern Thailand. Farmers who once grew opium poppies and were central to the drug trade, now grow high quality coffee beans instead. International charity Bright Hope World pays above Fair Trade prices for these beans giving the farmers a living wage.

La Mai beans are then shipped directly to the US and roasted with care in small batches. This captures the unique regional flavors and produces a great tasting cup of coffee. La Mai Coffee is sold whole bean or freshly ground with wholesale profits going back to Thailand to fight child prostitution.

Order here.

Drink compassionately.

Thoughts on blogging

2009-02-08T09:00:00.002-06:00

I've been feeling a little guilty about not blogging lately. I could come up with all kinds of excuses about why I've been a slacker lately. But, I decided instead to just lay down my expectations for this blog so that there will not be any confusion and we can all let each other off the hook.

Here's what you can expect: I will not be blogging every day. When I do create a new blog post, facebook or google reader will tell you. So, you don't need to come and check my blog every day to see if I posted something new.

Yes, this blog is still alive and active. I apologize to those of you who have been checking every once in a while only to find the same post over and over again. I know that must be frustrating.

Thanks for caring about what I have to say.

Looking back/ Looking forward

2008-12-31T16:26:00.003-06:00

As I think back over 2008 I can't help but remember the good and the bad. Wisdom came more and more this year and I gained more healing and understanding than ever before. There were many successes, no doubt, and I acknowledge them and thank God for them.

But, there was the ugly as well. I continued to spend a lot of time under the dark clouds of fear and mistrust. Those are the ugly clouds that will probably haunt me for the rest of my life, but will hopefully continue to get smaller and smaller until one day, I will hardly know they're there.

So this year, all I can do is continue the journey toward true freedom, taking it one baby step at a time.

Happy new year!

Cruel and Unusual Punishment

2008-12-22T15:11:00.002-06:00

Not sure what these poor animals did to deserve this kind of treatment. I was told that they'd been bad and were in jail. I'm going to try not to get on my daughter's bad side!

Who do you love??

2008-12-17T21:24:00.002-06:00

(a couple of letters can make a big difference :)

Important day tomorrow

2008-12-15T14:52:00.002-06:00

Tomorrow is a very special day, hopefully. Tomorrow, Abby will perform in her last pre-school Christmas show and Brennan will perform in his first. I am so excited about the only opportunity to see both of my kids in the same Christmas program. It will possibly be the only time that happens. They are both excited also and have been singing their songs for weeks now.

Here's the catch: Williamson County Schools must not close tomorrow! If schools close, then the performance is cancelled.

So I'm praying that the weather will not get too bad tonight so that tomorrow, the show will go on!

Amazing production!

2008-11-20T18:14:00.001-06:00

For those of you who didn't watch this on Brody's site, here you go.

Incredible!

My least favorite birthday gift

2008-11-12T14:34:00.003-06:00

I just had to show you the lovely birthday gift that my ever so thoughtful friends Jon and Jen gave me. They know me so well! (sarcasm)

I'm thinking Jon will really like the Hillary Clinton autobiography I get him for Christmas. Yes, I think that will be perfect!
:)

Happy Election Day!!!

2008-11-04T09:04:00.002-06:00

Get some free stuff today for voting!