If only the temps would drop a bit so that I could feel like it was officially fall! The wind is blowing the leaves off of the trees today. The colors are at their peak and I'm looking forward to viewing them in all of their splendor on Sunday when our family gets together with my BIL and his family to ride down the Abingdon Creeper Trail. I hope I remember to take the camera this time. I have blown soooo many photo opportunities this year by forgetting the camera. 2008 is going to be a very small section in the kids' scrapbooks whenever I get around to working on them again. I've given up feeling guilty about not keeping them up to date ... I figure I'll catch up when they go to college and then I'll be able to turn them over to them once they are graduated and on their own!

My husband got confirmation last night direct from the CEO of his company that next week is the week when he will FINALLY get a raise! Hallelujah! It's been a long time coming and it has really increased our faith that our company is going to make it through this economic turmoil. They have spent two years restructuring themselves to make it through this recession ... they were actually a bit ahead of the curve on that call and I am so thankful for that! We do not want to have to look for another job elsewhere, especially with the housing market the way it is.

Tomorrow, the pumpkins arrive for our church's Pumpkin Patch. Last year was our first year doing this and I hope this year runs smoother. Gonna spend most of the day at the church tomorrow working on last minute projects before we open next Thursday. My sister is sending me a bunch of homemade jewelry to sell on the weekends at the Patch and donating a portion of each sale to our chosen charities. I will, of course, be wearing all of the EarBling that she created for me and taking orders for those as she just really can't send me one of everything. I finally found a divided container to hold all of my beautiful crystal dangles and I should take a picture to share them all with you ... they are divided out by color now and it makes it so much easier to choose a pair to wear each morning.

Even with me opening up the house on cool mornings, our electric bill last month was $35 more than the previous month. On the bill was a note stating that we would see 30% increases on our monthly bills this winter. Yikes! So, we plan to do a couple of things to help out this winter. With me home by myself each day, I can bundle up and crank the heat down. I may look into buying a small space heater to keep me toasty. At night, the beds will be layered down to keep us warm so that I can turn the thermostat down for the night. I'll just warm up the house about 30 minutes before the alarm goes off. We are putting all of our plugs on power strips that we can turn off each night and/or leave off until needed. Finally, we are going to be putting those foam insulation things into all of the light switches and plug sockets. They are supposed to help a lot! Last winter, I put heavier drapes on the windows and kept them closed to keep the rooms warmer and that worked well, too.

I have barely started my cross-stitch project, but at least it's now ready to just pick up and stitch. My daughter is working on a project as well and learning the not-so-fun task of ripping out stitches when the count is done incorrectly. Oh well - live and learn, right? She is enjoying it for the most part. I cross-stitched a lot while in high school and before children came, so I am hoping that she developes that same affinity for this craft as it is fairly easy and inexpensive. I love to cross-stitch gifts for others and have a few planned for the future, but am going to start on something for me now. I usually have a couple of projects going at the same time to prevent boredom. Time to get off the computer and get on with the rest of my day - there is laundry to fold, a kitchen to clean and some other odd chores awaiting my attention. I hope you have a great holiday weekend!

I have tried to blog several times since Monday and I keep deleting the posts. There are so many things going on around me and I can't really discuss anything that matters to me at this time. So, I am trying to rely on God to show me what I need to know and I believe that I am getting some answers to that prayer.

I can't believe that it isn't even 10pm yet ... this has been one of those long days. My husband is a bit worried about the economy. I don't see any point in worrying about something that I have no control over. All I can do is keep a good budget and not use the credit card and be frugal where I can. The only thing that has me concerned is his job. As long as the company is in business, he has a job. But if the company cannot survive during this recession, then we'll have to find something else. That prospect doesn't sit well with me, but I've turned that over to God, too, and am not worrying about it (even if I do think about it a bit each week).

The gluten-free eating seems to be a good thing. I'm going to lunch with my boss tomorrow and am not quite sure what I'll order. I think I may call the restaurant in the morning and see what they have on their menu. I'm just glad that my itchy skin, heartburn and a few other ailments seem to be improving! I'd like to hang that Dr. (the one that declared me NOT celiac after a "negative" EGD) by the toenails. He's a quack if he doesn't know that a "clear" EGD doesn't rule out celiac ... geesh! I've been sick for an extra 12+ months because the "expert" didn't know his own job.

My husband wants us all to go on a bike ride on the Abingdon Creeper Trail on Sunday as part of his birthday present. So, we'll spend the day together on the trail. I've never gone, my daughter has gone once and my son and husband have already experienced this twice. I believe the leaves will be beautiful as they are really starting to show their colors this week. I'm looking forward to a nice day with the family - I just hope that we can still make reservations this late in the week. They may already be booked up.

Well, gotta get up at 5am tomorrow morning, so I best head to bed now ... have a great Wednesday!

I only wish that I lived in a sweet little farmhouse like the one above - LOL! I was so happy this morning to open up the paper and see a wonderful price on some new badly-needed cookware. I've been watching the sales and checking prices for a couple of weeks now and have been rewarded for my patience! At Belk this week, there is a $140 set priced down to $47.99. It includes all of the saucepans that I've been wanting plus a smaller Dutch oven and LOTS of extras that I'm just going to box up until I need them. Here's what I bought today!

Then I stopped at Walgreens and CVS on the way home. I had $20 in coupons & Register Rewards to spend at Walgreens. I ended up with 4 free cans of whole cashews, a free Glade Wisp starter kit and only paid for the Puffs tissues that I picked up on sale plus the tax. I also earned a Register Reward of $3, so that paid about half of the tissues. At CVS, I got 2 free packages of Always, 2 free bottles of Vitamin D, a free 3-pack of Orbit gum and paid $.50 for a purse-size container of Ibuprofen. I didn't pick up anything that we couldn't use! My chiropractor is recommending that I increase my intake of Vitamin D, my son asked for the cashews and my daughter asked for the gum. I have decided that I am not picking up anything that we don't need even if it is $1 or less after coupons and rebates.

I've got the menus written out for next week, so that should help me stay on track with getting dinner fixed each night. We usually eat leftovers on Friday and Saturday so that I get a weekend break from cooking. Looks like we'll just need some fresh produce for the rest of the month as I am fully stocked for most everything else!

I've got a very busy week ahead of me, so I will need to hit the ground running tomorrow morning. The cat's new outdoor bed is ready for him ... guess we'll see if he's ready to stay outdoors!

It's been another busy week. The kids are working hard in school, studying for tests, completing projects and keeping up with everything. My daughter is ONE point away from an A for her first 9-weeks. She started off with an 86 and is now sitting at a 92. She is hoping that her grades this week will get her to the needed 93 - my prayers are with her!

One thing about eating gluten-free is that I'm definitely not eating as much as I used to -plus- I don't feel as hungry either. I'm pretty lazy when it comes to fixing myself lunch, so I've been mixing several of those SteamFresh veggie packs and adding some meat to it for a quick lunch. I was pretty lazy about dinner this week and need to do better. I'll shop for a few items this afternoon after planning some menus for next week. My scale has started to move a little with the decrease in the amount of food being eaten. I have 14 more pounds to my goal and 4 more pounds to go for my short-term goal.

I have lots of back issues of Stoney Creek cross-stitch magazine here as I ordered a bunch of them. It's a great magazine and I'm considering subscribing. It's definitely cheaper than buying the patterns at the local craft store! The bad thing is that I can't decide which project to start first ... there are so many great ones in each magazine! I especially love the patterns with scripture in them and there are usually several in each issue.

Found fleas on the dog yesterday ... ugh! It was kinda unexpected as he NEVER scratches! I just happened to be combing him very thoroughly when I saw them ... so, a flea bath and then time to apply the stuff that keeps them away. We are going to make one of our cats an outdoor kitty on Monday. Gonna take him to the vet to update his shots and then out he goes - he's peeing in the house out of spite and so that's it ... he's inside NO MORE! He wants to be outdoors anyway - is always slipping out when I take the dog outside.

Not much else going on, really. I hope you had a good week and are looking forward to a wonderful Sunday!

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Only three months left in the year and time to get serious so that we can meet some goals we set for ourselves at the beginning of the year. I have two more months to finish getting our 3-month buffer into our savings account. I will deposit some money tomorrow. We had hoped to get there this summer, but buying the 3rd vehicle put that off a few months. I am happy that we'll get there by the end of 2008, though. Then we'll take that money and use it to pay off my dh's car by the end of 2009.

Although my husband was told he'd get a raise in September, it didn't happen. So, he is going to press the issue this month with the person who mentioned it to him. He's WAY overdue for a raise as it's been almost 4 years without one. We have had less and less each month to work with as living expenses have risen, so I am praying that this goes through. I am so thankful for my job which helps get us through each month.

Tonight, I'll be taking inventory of all that we have here at home - food and everything - so that I know what items I need to buy and what I'm not going to need at all. Although I love my rebate shopping, unless I am going to get an item totally free, I am not picking it up. I am well-stocked on all kinds of personal hygiene items. I am also pretty full regarding groceries, so will plan some menus based on what I have here now and only buy what I need to complete them. I want to clear out our food stash and start again without a lot of processed and unhealthy foods here. We all need to go back to eating more veggies and leaner meats. It's time to get VERY serious about healthy living. Because I cannot eat gluten or nightshade foods, it's pretty time-consuming to plan meals. But if I go back to a basic evening meal of lean meat, salad and side veggies, then I don't have to plan too much.

Well, I'm tired and I need to help my son with his homework, so I best get offline ... have a great evening!

Oh, my! I need to quit looking for cross-stitch patterns. I've sorta decided what I'd like to do with the wall in my reading nook. I'd like to make it a seasonal wall. So, for each season of the year, I would have appropriate cross-stitch pictures up on the wall. What this means is that I can cross-stitch for the rest of my life and probably still never have enough finished projects to fill the wall - LOL! I have found several sets that I really like. Today I bought the kits for seasonal samplers from Janlynn - you can view all four here - Autumn, Winter, Spring, Summer. I love that these are complete kits and that I can begin them when they arrive - I'll probably work on the autumn one first.

I love this series by Mirabilia - Seasons in My Garden. Here is the picture of the autumn pattern ... I love it!

Then there is this series of seasonal bell pulls ... I can just see them fitting into a narrow spot on the wall .... sigh ....

Well, I can see that I better stop looking for different seasonal patterns or I'm going to go broke!! Hope you had a good day!

Jill emailed me today and asked me to spread the word about the Hopeful Farm Benefit ... so here is the info in case it interests anyone!

Dear Kris,
   Hi! I was wondering if you could make an announcement about the non-profit we recently formed in Kentucky, telling your  audience how they can participate. The benefit is at www.hopefulfarmfoundation.org/benefit.html and you can listen to an interview with your girls at www.hopefulfarmfoundation.org/interview.html

Boy, the weekend sure flew by! I spent a good portion of it helping my son study for a big test in Geography tomorrow as well as helping him with a presentation he has to put together for Thursday. I never know whether he knows the information or not until he gets the grade back. He doesn't do too well on tests, so I just hope for the best! He did make straight A's for the first 6-weeks and I'm very proud of him for that.

I've decided to do a quicker cross-stitch project before starting the Noah's Sub. I saw this magazine at the store this weekend and just loved the front cover project.

My family agreed that it is very "me!" There were some other beautiful projects inside as well. Then this led me to searching the net for some interesting projects and I soon found myself wanting a bunch of beautiful patterns ... sigh ... will need to decide what I want to do with that wall in my reading nook. I've got several ideas running through my head!

After coming to the conclusion that I have issues with nightshade fruits and veggies, I decided to test if gluten is really a problem. I didn't have any reaction after eating some Bisquick waffles this morning. I ate gluten-free for the rest of the day and will do so for a bit longer as I try to keep track of my food reactions. I definitely feel like I'm beginning to narrow things down and it is such a relief to be doing so.

I did really well at Walgreens and CVS this afternoon. At Walgreens, I bought almost $51 worth of product for $26 after sale prices and coupons. I paid for it with $23 that was on my gift card from my rebate last month (had to pay the extra $3 and tax, of course) and earned $9 back in register rewards plus I'll be getting back $14.50 in rebates. I'm going to go back again this week and pick up a few more items that will be nearly free after coupons and rebates. I am hoping they have a coupon good on Friday & Saturday as they seem to have most weeks - I get that in my email. At CVS, I bought $113 worth of product for almost $4 after sale prices, coupons and ECB's. I'll head back there again, too, and pick up a few more items with my husband's CVS card. My box of items to donate at Christmas is getting a nice start!

The leaves on the trees are beginning to change and the day temps will be dipping into the low 70s in just a few days. I can't wait! My week looks pretty good. I'll be busy, but each day looks manageable. Mondays are usually my 'get it together' day - I pay bills, straighten up the house from the weekend, plan meals for the week and catch up on work that came in over the weekend. I picked up our Angel Food food packs on Saturday and then shopped the sales at the grocery stores. I a pretty well-stocked up with meat and many items that will help make meals for us. I just need to sit down and create some weekly menus to figure out which items I need to round the meals off.

I guess that is all that has been going on with me here. I hope you have a great week!

I can't believe how much work I had to catch up on ... I worked almost seven hours straight! Of course, there is still work to be done, but I'll have to tackle that tomorrow! I've had my house open all day and there is the most delicious cool breeze wafting through the open windows and doors. I don't think I'll even have to turn on the AC tonight! The kids will be hopping off of the bus in about 5 minutes, but I wanted to post a link to FREE charts for the cross-stitch patterns that I mentioned in yesterday's post ... enjoy!

Download the monthly teapots here  - the final one (December) should be posted soon, I imagine!

I didn't have any work that was really pressing today, so I finished up what I had to do and then I went and did a little shopping. After thinking about how much I wanted to decorate for the season, I decided to use some of the rebate money on my Walgreen's card and pick up some of the decor that I was wanting. I had some decor from last year that I knew I could use, but it needed some updating. I also went to the Dollar Tree and picked up some final items. Just a few dollars out of my pocket and my home is all decorated now. I plugged in my candle warmer and popped in a berry-scented candle ... my house smells yummy!

I called my husband and asked him if he wanted to go for lunch. He had the time so we enjoyed a nice lunch together. On my way home, I stopped off at the local cross-stitch store - I had never been there before. I talked to the owner about the Noah's Sub pattern that I am going to tackle. She gave me some advice on how to start it and I am ready to go. I need to check my fabric stash to see if I have the right stuff to start. If I don't, I'll head back to the shop and pick up what I need. Because this pattern is going to take a while ( I read around 400-600 hours!), I am going to need something different to work on from time to time. At the store was this adorable series of monthly teapots. I think that these would be really cute on this blank wall in the reading nook off the living room. The owner told me that they are going to produce the teacups to match in 2009. I believe these sets would give me a nice break when I get a bit bored with Noah's Sub.

It was nice to take a bit of a break today, but it'll be back to business tomorrow. The great thing is that I have NO errands to run so I won't be tempted away from my work ... I'll light a candle and just get right to it!