She Perceiveth That Her Merchandise is Good

Part of the mid-life crisis era I'm in right now, has influenced an idea called: "Save Money." Ever heard of it? I had heard of it but I thought it was for people that were setting aside money to buy something expensive. Or people with big families and lots of mouths to feed. Or people that *liked* clipping coupons. I guess I didn't know that saving money was an option everyone should think about. And choose.

Toby had mentioned a couple times that we needed a budget. Being the wife that I'm striving to be, I agreed. "Oh yes honey, a budget is what we need." Although in the back of my mind I was thinking, what in the world is a budget for??? What is a budget???

So, as I thought about saving money, I thought it was great idea. I mean, who doesn't like to put more money in their savings account, right? But I just kept grocery shopping like the food was going out of style. The only improvement I made was I quit shopping weekly and started only grocery shopping twice a month. I also cut back on my "run to Lincoln and go shopping" sprints. But, nothing was really helping.

Until a friend mentioned in passing she was going into town to get some awesome sales at a grocery store in Lincoln. And then I remembered what "saving money" meant.

It was the last day of the sale so I quickly wrapped up everything I was going to do for the day but hadn't done yet and jumped in the van and ran into town. Thankfully it was a rain day (Toby was home) and thankfully I left at nap time so I was alone, by myself. My brain was not functioning on high that day though because I was extremely tired and the rain on my windshield was droning my thoughts. If I would've been sharper, I may have made better sale choices at the store but even with my gray-and-cloudy-thanks-to-the-rain brain, I still got some amazing deals.

Before I got married, I did most of my family's grocery shopping. The method I aimed for and actually was pretty good at keeping was 'only buy what's on sale and stock up.' Then I got married. And I didn't have much storage for food. And I was still learning what Toby's favorite dishes were. And what foods he didn't like. And I was realizing that buying for 9 people and buying for 2 was a huge difference in your budget. And then I forgot what "saving money" meant when it comes to food.

Until the other day. Finding dirt cheap prices on chicken breasts, canned foods, flour and frozen veggies amazed me. I was so excited to be buying all that stuff and not spending THAT much! I am officially addicted to sale prices now.

Not to mention the fact that on the same trip (which means I was saving fuel as well), I was able to sell a few baby items to a baby store and I made the exact amount of money on them that I had tried to make on them at my garage sale. Another amazing-money-saving-money-making-deal was that I had bought one item for $4 at Goodwill. We used it for as long as we needed to and then I sold it to this store for $8 because Goodwill had way underpriced it. The cool thing is, I didn't set the price either; the store owner looks over the merchandise and then prints up what she'll give you for each item. I was stoked.

The same friend who told me about the grocery sales is also a CVS shopper, which is something I've wanted to get into for a long time but didn't know anyone personally in my area that was doing it. The whole ECB point thing and coupon clipping made NO sense to me but I grilled my friend on what to do, where to start and what not to do. The only thing I felt guilty for when we were done talking was the fact that I had thrown out the Sunday newspaper coupons that week. (Actually, I've done that for a long time...) Seeing the way the system really is, made me realize how fun it would be to shop this way and how much it made sense.

So, I guess I'm getting into a "frugal knack" which is something I've always admired in many of the blogs I read but I didn't know where to start. I'm really aiming for the whole Proverbs 31 Woman thing and think it's amazing how God has brought people into my life that are exactly the encouragement and influence I need to have wisdom in knowing how to LIVE the P31 way. My next plan is to write up a detailed menu, stay up to date on sale flyer's and even store food in rubber maid bins in my basement if that's the only place I have to put my good deals.

Unless it's frozen or refrigerated... "The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life..." Proverbs 31:11-12

Just think of how clean my fridge will have to get to be now. Nice.

12 Reasons Why I Love My Mother-In-Law

She likes to talk.

She likes to listen.

She never leaves me wondering what she's thinking.

She is a firstborn just like me.

She always has time for people.

She lends a hand and helps every chance she gets.

She likes to take my baby to her house just for fun.

She did a ton of my laundry.

She cleaned our house when we had to leave on an unexpected trip.

She made us a good supper tonight and brought it over.

She loves the Lord.

She raised my husband and he's a good man.

Threatening The Blogosphere Near You: Her Praising Works

After having weeks of surging energy, boundless creativity and unimaginable joy, I woke up to a crashed day. I haven't felt so behind and run down in a long time. I keep grasping for the little energy and wakefulness left around here somewhere but there's nothing within my reach.

I should've known this honeymoon phase of my pregnancy wouldn't last forever but still, I assumed it would last longer than just 3 weeks. Oh well. There's always tomorrow. Maybe today was just a foretaste of the glorious 3rd trimester.

This morning started normal. Landon came into bed and we snuggled for a little while and then he got up and got some paper and little tiny folding scissors and brought them back to bed with me. He started cutting various snips of paper as he maneuvered his thumb and finger in the little scissor handle.

I wasn't too worried about the mess: what's a little paper?

Then, another idea must've hit his little brain because he disappeared and then returned with a comb and preceded to want to comb my hair. He carefully sauntered up to the bed and told me he needed my hair.

I willingly surrendered my locks of hair, basking in the prospect of someone playing with my hair. I LOVE that feeling and I rarely get to experience it.

I happened to glance at him as I tossed my hair over and I noticed the very tips of those tiny thread scissors peering secretly out of his chubby little hand.

"I'm going to do hair cutting, Mom," he said, as if it was a productive art project.

Needless to say, I confiscated the scissors and made sure he had no other means of hair cutlery available as he stood above my head and my vulnerable tresses of hair.

After that, the day held one big threat after another. None were after my hair, thankfully, but it still evolved into a rather discouraging and worthless day. Everything I set out to do, only resulted in making a huge extra task to get done. Eventually, I was afraid to get anything done. By lunch time, I was ready to pull my hair out but thought better of it when I remembered how close I had come to losing it all earlier today.

I thought to myself as I waded through piles of newspaper, clean dishes and dirty dishes, an unorganized kitchen and a little boy getting potty trained, that I think it would be wise for me to just quit trying to get anything done. The more I get done, the more I have to do. I felt like I was on a treadmill and not gaining miles but still running as fast as I could. I know it's bad to "give up" but the reason I wanted to give up was so that at least I could say I did something today.

Finally, I got my morning coffee at around 4:30 this afternoon and sat down and surfed through my usual homemaking blogs. As should be expected, one site after another held all the lofty things those virtuous wives had accomplished in just short amounts of time. Not just your everyday tasks either -- serious organization, craft projects, sewing items, fancy meals rich with nutrition, major cleaning and redecorating, etc.

And here I felt blessed to get my dishwasher loaded today and could still hear the glories ringing from those dirty dishes as they sang songs of praise to me for finishing my work with them. How I longed to hear more works praising me but that is just not my lot in life today.

I thought to myself as I searched their sites and coveted over their pictures of befores and afters, how come I always get stuck with just before pictures? By the time I could take after pictures, there's hardly any way you could tell I accomplished anything worth taking a picture of. By then, the room is ready for another before picture.

Day after day I visit these blogs and notice their consistent and steady virtuous spirit. Everyday holds abundance accomplishments and every tomorrow is guaranteed complete success. Maybe if I had a blog devoted to such goals as theirs, I'd be on the right track too and could avoid crash days like today. That's what I need: a blog entitled, "Her Praising Works."

As I searched on the last recipe site for the day, I wondered why I was even there considering I needed no meal ideas for tonight: we're having eggs and bacon. Simple as that. I figured if there's anything worth accomplishing today, it would be supper. So, I aimed low and hit right on the target. No big meal prep, no fuss and no frill. But we'll eat good and come away full and I'll feel like I did accomplish at least one thing today besides giving up.