Ya gotta check out my friend's friend's blog....

http://thepioneerwoman.com/

Full of great tips for families, cooking, and real life stuff. Plus, just a fun read.

God granted us common sense... so use it

As Christians, we pray about our family, our jobs, our purchases and everything else... and then we wait. We wait for an answer or confirmation before we make our move. I believe this is the right thing to do, but we must not forget that God gave us not only a spirit, but a brain. He wants us to put it to good use. So of course we must pray and see his will for our daily lives, however, you can't walk through life weighting for a miraculous sign at every corner.

Be confident in the knowledge and wisdom that HE has provided and trust HE will not fail you. He gave you a miracle of a body along with that soul. By my own experience God's plan is not always logical. After all talking to a burning bush is not the most logical thing to do. But His plan is always available and if you seek with a pure heart, you will find it. (in His time) Seek your wisdom from experiences, pray, pray some more and use your brain.

Thank you for allowing me to preach to myself....

Our Super Star Emily...

Emily auditioned for her first stage play. Several of her friends are active in plays since the Danville Community Theater is so family friendly and tons of fun. This performance will be Schoolhouse Rock LIVE!

It caught my attention because Emily has a VCR tape (yes I do still have a few tapes around the house) of the top 100 Schoolhouse Rock songs. She loves it and watches it frequently. So I knew she could relate to the music. I really didn't think she would get a part but thought it would be a positive experience for her to just audition. To our surprise, she will be singing on stage this summer!

Even though Tony and I already knew she had landed a spot, we decided to take her by the to let her find her name on the list for herself. So, we picked her up after school and told her we had heard they posted the list and we could go by to see. She immediately got a nervous look on her face. I told her that no matter what, it was a fun experience even if she didn't make it this time. (he he) We pulled up to the theater and we barely had stopped the van before Emily jumped out and ran to the window. It took her all of 5 seconds to find her name, and literally began jumping for joy! It was really fun to see.

I hope she enjoys this experience. It is a lot of practice and time, so we'll see how well she deals with it. I think she will have a blast and make a few new friends along the way.

Folks, I'm sold. I have officially put the coupons to the test. So, the great news other than saving $ is that I can avoid Wal-mart and still save if I choose to. YAY! I purchased $170 worth of groceries at Kroger a few days ago and through the use of coupons and my Kroger Card and downloading coupons on to my card (great idea btw) I reduced my purchase to $130. WOW! That's $40 free!

Now, the true test was when I went to Wal-mart and tried to use my coupons and only saved $3.50. So, I thought well, maybe Wal-marts beginning prices where lower. But I compared several items on both receipts and guess what... Kroger wins overall.

There is a caveat... this excludes the prices of health and beauty products... Wal-mart or you local drug store may still be a better bet.

I hope you give it a try. I'd love to hear your results and success stories, or perhaps you have a helpful tip!

Spiritual update

My January post is interesting to me as I have been somewhat refined since then. I just happened to run into a friend who invited me to a bible study. And so I went and am loving it. It is, Annointed, Transformed, Redeemed by Beth Moore, Pricilla Shirer, and Kay Arthur. Which that line up you know it's going to be powerful.

I have realized that I was with holding my heart from my God. I was saying and doing what I was suppose to as a Christian but withholding the most important connection from Him b/c I was feel a little "unblessed" and frustrated with God for where we are in our life. I have been selfishly dissatisfied but also felt I was wrong for feel that way and so I didn't confess it to the Lord. Guess I should pay more attention to my header verse on this blog...

Anyway I am getting over my devastation with God and working toward WHOLE-HEARTED obedience. I have had my "discussion" with God now and express my frustration. I can also see some things now that he has protected me from and trust that he is still doing so.

I will continue to love, trust and obey as I get through these trials. AND I will not POUT: (Pour old unloved thang" as Beth put it.

Coupons?? Or waste of time.

For a while I have casually clipped coupons, and using them (that is the key for some- using them). Sometimes I am proud of the deals I get and other times like this passed Sunday, none of my coupons seem to match up to be a very good deals. So my 30 minutes of organization prior my store visit seemed like a waste.

However did any of you see the Dr. Phil show yesterday about saving money?! It was really great. I am determined now to become an expert frugal mom and cut my gro bill in half. If you did not see it, go to Drphil.com and watch the segments. You can also go the blog frugalcouponmom.com and get your info from the source. I am very impressed and encouraged to try the coupon thing again.

I'm just bummed I already did my shopping this week. I want a redo.