Peace

Often times I have more thoughts running around in my head than I can handle. 
Last night was no different. (In fact I hardly slept because of it) As you all know we've been praying hard about my husband's job and last night we were given some news on it.  We are no longer waiting.


Though it is not exactly what WE wanted, we know God has it all in His hands and that He knows what is best for us.


As my Husband told me that we are no longer waiting for answers but was unable to tell me what the answers are for a bit I began to wonder and get antsy for what those answers would be. I called my hubby out on it telling him "You suck for telling me that much and making me wait but I love you and respect your decision to wait." He didn't want to have to give me any sort of news (good or bad) over a text message or over the phone. The only thing he would tell me was that it "wasn't exactly what we wanted."  


And then, Peace. 
I just felt this overwhelmingly sense of peace. 
And as I talked to my friend Kay about what my husband had said and that we are no longer waiting but still don't have answers it was ok. I was ok. 
I know that He knows our hearts and our desires. However, He also knows what is best for us. The God of the Universe loves us so much and wants better for us. More than we could ever dream or imagine. So tonight I have peace in knowing that His plans and will is better than the dreams we have for ourselves.

Grocery Shopping.

So as I have said before Dowe and I are taking Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University class at our church. We have really been enjoying the class and though we are not even half way through, it has been life changing. Dowe went to college, I did not. However, just from his years in college we have quite a bit of debt. Since starting this class we have paid off over $3,000 worth of debt! That is huge. We also know that we will have all of our debts (school loans and car loan) paid off in the next 5 years at most! This is also huge as our loans would have taken MUCH longer to pay off without the knowledge we have gained from this class.


But now down to what I REALLY want to blog about today.


Grocery Shopping!


UGH!!!! I HATE IT! 
Let me explain farther. I ENJOY the shopping part. Picking out things to make for my family. I love to cook and to try new things. However, I HATE the sick to my stomach feeling I get in the pit of my stomach EVERY TIME I get to the checkout line and I hear the BEEP-BEEP-BEEP as the items I have selected get rung in and I feel what little money my family and I have fly out of our hands.  I usually only go grocery shopping once every 6 weeks (at most) other than for a few little things here and there in between (mostly Milk.) But the main part of our grocery shopping I do in one trip and not very often. So this means I have one grocery cart piled high for more than a month's worth of dinners. 

Today was different. 
As Previously stated with taking the FPU class we are now on a budget. Cash in hand, I went grocery shopping with both boys in tow. Calculator in hand we stayed under budget and hopefully have enough food for 2 weeks. Today was the first time in the almost 2 years my hubby and I have been married that I DID NOT feel sick as our groceries were being rung up. 
I had to change my entire mindset today. I felt like I had nothing in my cart as I went up to the checkout.  I've gotten so use to shopping once for more than a month's worth of food that this was a really difficult shopping trip but it was actually pretty enjoyable. I'm really hoping I  actually have enough groceries in the house to last two weeks but haha we'll see! :) 




In the next two  weeks (before the next "major" shopping trip) I have a new goal! 
Thanks to a friend I heard about "Extreme Couponers" and though I do think that some of these people are excessive and potentially even slightly neglectful of their families, I do feel the need to learn some of their ways. Can you imagine?...Never having to pay for tooth paste, toilet paper, and other necessities again?!  NO we are NOT talking about stealing! These women and men have learned how to use the manufactures and store coupons to their advantage and sometimes even get PAID to take products out of the store!!! 
Just a few weeks ago my friend Kay and I were talking about coupons and where she clips them off the internet. I told her I really need to start doing that and I actually started looking at coupon tips on the internet. I started feeling like its not worth it and I wouldn't know where to start! After reading about these "Extreme Couponers" and saw video clips of TLC's new show, I started looking into it more. Now I do not plan to become EXTREME but I would like to be more fugal and wise with the money God has given my little family. I am so thankful for the income we have (even if it is small) and that my husband is will to and works so hard to provide so I can stay home with our son.

Change

How is it possible that one single word can mean so much and cause so many different emotions and reactions? new, different, unknown, anger, hurt, excited, scared, thrilled....Change.


I think that a lot of the time the word "Change" is a scary one.
More often than not we think of change as being bad. Things being new and changing are scary and we don't know how to handle what we feel we have no control over.
But change can also be good, welcomed, and needed regardless of control.


My little family and I have been experiencing some changes as of lately:


Monkey (our 10 month old son) experiences change every day of his life as he grows and gets ready to walk. He learns things so fast and surprises me everyday! I know this may sound dumb or like I am making it up but my son says over 15 words! The latest word: "Ti-ter" that would be how he says Tigger. Tigger has become the new favorite and he HAS to have him to sleep at nap time and bed time. :) We also know this is what he is saying because Monkey will point at and say "Ti-ter."




Dowe's (my Husband) Job: Change with a prayer request attached to it.  Dowe's Boss "J" is leaving the Factory. Dowe is currently at the highest position he can be without being part of the management team. Until just a week ago this wasn't a possibility as there are only a handful of management positions and once they're full, people tend to stay there for years. 
So the prayer request is that my husband would get this position if this is God's will. We have been praying about his job situation for quite some time as he is our source of income. We weren't sure if he should be looking for another job or if we should just wait. Currently, we feel the answer is wait. We are really trying hard to be patient and not get TOO excited. But it is difficult just waiting knowing it could be a couple more months of waiting. The Praise in this though is that the Factory Manager told Dowe, when he went in to talk to him about the job, he had already been thought of and was already being considered for the job. So that is very encouraging and exciting. 




Dowe and I have been taking the Dave Ramsey FPU class to help us get out of debt and become wiser with the money God has given us. This has caused us to make several changes in the ways we deal with and think about money. Including making a budget and trying our hardest to stick to it! We've just started the budget portion so I'm sure you will get updates on how it's going in the coming weeks/months. :) 
We're also starting to look at the possibility of buying our first home. This is all very exciting change but also a little challenging. 


Which brings me to a question for you all: What are some of your favorite money saving tips for grocery shopping as well as favorite inexpensive meals? I am working on trying to get my shopping list around and seem to be really struggling with it as of lately. So any help would be warmly welcomed!

Soak up the Son.

So yesterday was more or less a "wasted" day as far as working on things in the house 

I have those every so often....I think we all do. I hope I'm not alone at least.

Things have been slowly getting better around the house though. I have gotten the living room cleaned up and have been keeping up with it for the most part. I will confess I do have 2 loads of clean laundry partially folded the rest waiting to be folded in here but that is NOTHING compared to how it has been.

The dining room is slowly but surely getting a little better. My kitchen is in need of help right now along with the laundry room. But I am getting there. The bathroom seems to be the one room I have the easiest time keeping up with and almost always looks great. 

Monkey's bedroom really isn't too far from being where I would like it to be.  I think more than anything I need to hang some shelves so I can get his books out of boxes and where we could see them to pick new ones out to read instead of the same ones all of the time. 

I am finding it difficult not to decorate his room more than anything. He really doesn't do anything but sleep in his room at this point in time. It would be nice to be comfortable spending time sitting in there reading together.

  

I did reorganize his closet not long ago which has made my life so much better! I did cry slightly in putting away some of his little baby clothes. So hard to believe he is almost 10 months!

Hubby's and my bedroom is also getting really close to being done. We spent an evening together rearranging the furniture and though it has taken some getting use to, we both love it. We feel like there is more space in our bedroom and we both have night stands now instead of just me. We are really looking forward to and praying about getting our own house. But until God directs us to the right house we need to make this place something we can be comfortable in and be able to relax.

  

I enjoyed reading the book of James for my devotions this morning. 
James 1:27 really is my all time favorite verse. Look it up sometime :) 

Monkey and I went for a walk back a few weeks ago when it was actually warm out...you know before we got this last round of snow. It was sunny and comfortably in the 50's so how could we not go out and soak up some sun?! We left around 4pm and didn't arrive back home till 6pm! Walking the whole time. Ok, so I walked and Monkey took in the whole world around him. :) I only wish Hubby could have gone with us. 
I also must admit that it is really nice to be able to look out my window at 7:40pm and still see a little bit of daylight left! I think that is my least favorite part of winter with being a stay at home mommy....Little to no sun and too cold to take Monkey outside. 

Well I'm off to clean a little more around the house and then work for my parents :) 
Hope you were able to take some time out of your day to soak up the Son and some sun.