Blessings on your day ... Kris

It's been a week of ups and downs. I'm still working on getting a good schedule together and making time for my hobbies. I spent some time organizing my craft area last night. I need to get the homeschool items that I want to sell typed up and posted so that I can clear off my craft table and actually begin scrapbooking for the summer. I also need to get my daughter's quilt top done and begin practicing my hand quilting so that I can finish her quilt for her December birthday. Those are my two 'to-dos' for the rest of May ... make time for the fun stuff!

I had a great experience yesterday. There was an article in our local paper about our local soup kitchen needing donations and we had some money set aside for tithing. We decided to give it to The Daily Bread, but I have to say that it was a bit hard to think about writing that check. We tithed on our stimulus check and I had a goal of paying off the car next month. These checks would have made it possible to get the car paid off, but Jim and I talked and agreed that we need to remember that God asks for our "first fruits." So, I went down to The Daily Bread and gave them the check. Later that afternoon, the money that I had donated came back to us DOUBLED! It was such an affirmation that God does understand our worries and hears our prayers.

Ok, now for the bad news ... I stepped on the scale this morning and have finally gone OVER my "upper limit" ... I am so frustrated! Since switching over to eating gluten-free, I have not tried to balance my carbs and protein, so I believe that is the issue there. I'm going back to that today. The other issue is my lack of exercise, so time to get back to that. I've got a perfectly good treadmill, a membership to a fitness center, running trails at a local park only minutes away and good uphill streets in my neighborhood ... I HAVE NO EXCUSE FOR CONTINUING TO SIT ON MY TUSH! So, I am going to get in two 30-minute sessions each day, one in the morning and one in the evening. Our puppy loves to run around the block and I mean he actually runs the entire thing! So, my evening exercise will be as part of the puppy run  that my husband and kids are doing.

I guess that is all for now ... I'm going to go hop on my treadmill before beginning my day! I hope you make the most of yours!

Blessings on your day ... Kris

I cannot believe the recent tragedies in China - an earthquakes kills at least 12,000 - and in Myanmar - between 63,000 to 100,000 killed due to a cyclone. The Myanmar government doesn't seem to understand the widespread desctruction caused by the cyclone either. The cover of US News & World Report that arrived in my mailbox today shows their focus is on the food shortage. And, of course, I am tired of hearing about people complain about the rising gas costs. Maybe that sounds bad, but it is what it is ... gas prices are not going down anytime soon and we all just need to get used to it and adjust our budgets to accomodate the rising prices. Even though my husband is going on his 3rd or 4th year without a pay increase ... it's been so long, I've lost track! ... and I know that many other people are dealing with pay freezes, we feel lucky that he has a job and we just make our budget work for us. It could be so much worse as seen in China or Myanmar, so today I am thanking God that all I am dealing with are just some price increases.

I guess today was just one of those great homemaking days ... six loaves of fresh bread just out of my oven, a cool spring breeze blowing through my open windows, a washing machine and dryer to clean our clothes, electricity to power my computer and vacuum cleaner and stove, etc. (After a brief blackout this morning, I am reminded of my reliance on electricity.) My kids are doing their own thing today, but both have given me hugs and told me they love me. My puppy is napping on my lap while I blog and giving me puppy kisses just because he can. And, of course, my husband is at work earning a living.

So, no matter what kind of day you've had, I hope you will take a moment and give thanks for all that you DO have and quit worrying about what you don't ... and, if you are really wanting something specific, just pray about it ... you never know, but your prayers may come true - just ask Meredith.

Blessings on your day ... Kris

There are several jobs that my husband has total control over at our house - the yard, the cars, and anything gross (like cleaning out clogged pipes). Finally, he is king over all things technological. I wish that I knew more about computers and current technology, but I don't! I've always told my husband that if he dies before I do, I'm going to have to "hire a husband" to come to the house to take care of everything electronic including the computers! One thing that I never get right is hooking several things up with all of those cables like hooking the cable box and TV and DVD player up correctly ... it gives me a headache! I have no clue what they are ... coaxial, HDMI, audio, video, USB ... ack! It's a good thing that my husband is good at these things  !


Blessings on your day ... Kris

I have to say that I've sorta given up on losing these pesky 25 lbs. that have been hanging around for so many years. It's not about the number on the scale anymore, although I do check it weekly to be sure that I am not gaining. It's more about getting healthy, but there are many people that need a little extra help and have found diet pills that work for them. At ConsumerPriceWatch.net, there is a page that reviews diet pills, including Phentermine without a prescription. They also list the top 10 diet pills and give links to the cheapest price they have found online. Some of us just need a little more help than others!


Blessings on your day ... Kris

I headed out early this morning to get my rebate shopping done and scored some good deals!

First to Walgreens. I had $22 worth of Register Rewards which were going to expire on 5/21, so I wanted to make sure that I used them. I've forgotten about them before - ugh! So, I used some of the store coupons and bought 5 Pepsi fridge packs, 2 Angel Soft t.p's, 3 pks of Glade fragrance refills, and a Pert shampoo. I also had coupons worth $3 and I'll get back $2.49 on the Pert. So, my total out of pocket will be around $3 after the rebate. TOTAL SAVINGS TODAY: $54.73

Then it was off to CVS. I made money there today. The Freestyle Lite glucose meters, retail value $74.99, are $10 and giving $10 back in ECB's, but there is also a coupon in this week's paper which makes it FREE, so I actually make $10! ... and we have 2 cards, so we made $20!  I will put them in our church's rummage sale in June. The Intuition razors are $9.99 and giving back $6 in ECB, but there is also a $4 coupon, so those items were FREE after coupon and ECB. I used one of the $10 ECB's to buy the Coke fridge packs on sale for 5/$11 and picked up another item that was free after ECB. My out of pocket at CVS was $4.80 and my TOTAL SAVINGS TODAY: $193.99

So, $7.80 out of pocket and a total savings of almost $250!!

Blessings on your day ... Kris

In my efforts to get back on track planning a good menu for us each week, I'm going to try to post it on Sunday or Monday. I'm planning wheat-free/gluten-free dinners. I joined a GF menu mailer program and will blog about that separately this week - it's going to save me a lot of frustration as I learn to eat differently.

MONDAY - Fruited chicken (recipe from Menu Mailer), brown rice and veggies

TUESDAY - spaghetti (GF pasta for me), bread (not for me!), salad

WEDNESDAY - dinner at church

THURSDAY - pork chops (coated w/GF flour), green beans, corn or hash browns

FRIDAY - Sticky Chicken w/potatoes cooked in juices, peas

SATURDAY - leftovers

SUNDAY - chicken stir-fry over brown rice

Blessings on your day ... Kris

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Blessings on your day ... Kris

Today was a busy day for our family ... it was Mother's Day, Confirmation Sunday and Pentacost Sunday. Both of my children were confirmed in their faith and four other children from the youth group that my husband and I lead were also confirmed. It almost felt like SIX of my "children" were being celebrated as they became full members of our church. It was a day full of joyous tears that started off with this song chosen by our pastor and the organist, who is also the mother of the other girl being confirmed. Here are the lyrics to the song "Borning Cry" ... you might need a tissue! It was the perfect song for our combined Mother's Day and Confirmation Day service.

"I was there to hear your borning cry,
I'll be there when you are old.
I rejoiced the day you were baptized,
to see your life unfold.
I was there when you were but a child,
with a faith to suit you well;
In a blaze of light you wandered off
to find where demons dwell."

"When you heard the wonder of the Word
I was there to cheer you on;
You were raised to praise the living Lord,
to whom you now belong.
If you find someone to share your time
and you join your hearts as one,
I'll be there to make your verses rhyme
from dusk 'till rising sun."

“In the middle ages of your life,
not too old, no longer young,
I’ll be there to guide you through the night,
complete what I’ve begun.
When the evening gently closes in,
and you shut your weary eyes,
I’ll be there as I have always been
with just one more surprise.”

I was there to hear your borning cry,
I’ll be there when you are old.
I rejoiced the day you were baptized,
To see your life unfold.”

Here is the latest picture of us and the kids:

 

This is the Confirmation Class and our Pastor ...

And here is a picture of my kids and my parents ...

So, that was our morning ... I hope you had a great Mother's Day! 

Blessings on your day ... Kris

  

Couldn't sleep as I forgot to take my Claritin before bed, so I am up surfing the net ... such a time waster, I know - I really need to work on it as I find myself sitting here WAY too much each day. There are so many things that I should be doing with my time.

Anyhoo, I felt like my blog needed a little spring re-do and so played around a little last night. I have removed some things from the sidebar. I am not going to keep up the More than Rubies Monday meme as I just don't have time.

My job is keeping me at the computer enough and my son needs me to help him with some skills during the summer, so the blogging is only going to happen as I have the time to blog. Since my priorities are out of whack right now, it will probably be a bit infrequent as I get a better schedule going. Too many things are going undone each day.

I have had another reaction to something I ate ... not sure if it is wheat-related or if I also have issues with dairy, but I have been a bit miserable since Thursday. I hope that I can pinpoint the problem and work to eat the right things. I have not been exercising or eating like I should  ... again, need to work on my priorities and make my health take on an importance that I have not shown it in several months.

I hope you have a lovely Mother's Day and a great weekend ... I'll be back as soon as I can!

Blessings on your day ... Kris