Where is the time going?

July already? How is this possible? I am in the midst of planning Aaron's 1st birthday party and we are getting ready to head to Michigan to see my Daddy and step mom! It is hot outside and life is flying by faster that ever! Every day is a new thing! Aaron is taking steps and talking and saying lots of new words! I never imagined that life would be so much fun with a little guy! He has definitely enriched my life in ways I only dreamed of! Being a mommy is one of life's greatest joys for sure. Drew and I are at a crossroads in our lives. Not sure where to go from here, but definitely feel God leading us somewhere. Praying specifically for his guidance and direction so that we can see the path we are supposed to take. This process is o much harder. We don't know what we are supposed to do, where we are supposed to go, and how we are to get there. But God has a plan and today I am trusting in that truth when everything else seems to not make sense. The verse that Drew sent me this morning was perfect. Jeremiah 17:8 says "For he shall be as a tree planted by the water, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit."
This is what I long to be like...this tree. I don't quite feel like I have been planted yet. I feel like I am still looking for that water where I can spread out my roots. Pray that I find that water!

Baby log...

My poor little munchkin has been dealing with a runny nose and slight congestion for about a week now. Today he sounds like Darth Vadar and it just makes my heart break! You can tell he doesn't feel good but he doesn't have a fever. Looking for anything to help him I picked up some saline nose drops at the drug store and those seemed to help a little bit. How do you know when to call the doctor? How do you know if it is actually a cold or simply signs of teething? He is being a trooper through all of this. He still has his smiley/giggly/squeals of happiness moments but they are followed by snorts and coughs and sniffles and congested breathing. About to go set up the humidifier to see if that will help him during his nap.....I'll let you know how it goes! Just pray for my little man. I know this wet and chilly weather isn't helping either. Any suggestions would be great!!!!

Wheelin and Dealin!

So, my latest addiction has been Amazon.com and subscribe and save. On Amazon you can sign up for free as "Amazon Mom" and get some nice discounts, then you can sign up for "subscribe and save" and shop for necessity items like toilet paper, diapers, toothpaste, soap, paper towels, and even groceries and save even more! You just set up how often you want to receive shipments (I get my diapers delivered to my door once every 2 months and I got to choose which day of the month!) and Voila! you save alot of money not to mention time and gas!!! My goal is to get most of our necessity items set up like this so that I know exactly what we spend on each thing every month and budget accordingly! Talk about awesome!! So far, I order my diapers (Luvs heavy dooty box of over 200 diapers) every 2 months and pay $30 and shipping is free! I recently added toilet paper to my subscribe and save subscriptions and got Charmin ultra strong 40 rolls and paid $.60 a roll and of course free shipping!! I also recently added soap to my subscriptions. I got 24 bars of Lever 2000 bar soap and paid $.60 a bar and of course...I got free shipping!! The next things I am wanting to add are toothpaste and deodorant. But won't add those till we actually need them....did I mention shipping was free and your order arrives sometimes within 48 hours?? Yeah! It's just that cool!!!

Been A While!!

Well, here we are at the 9th day of 2012. I have not written on my blog in forever! So much has happened and life has gotten so much richer! On August 2nd 2011 we welcomed our adorable little boy, Aaron James into the world! He has been a true delight and a joy to our hearts and lives! Each day is a new discovery and a new experience for him and I am loving being his mommy! Here are a couple of pictures....the first is when he was brand new and the second is now...our healthy 5 month old little man!

I'm a City Girl. Nuff Said.

This past weekend we had the awesome opportunity to go to Tennessee for the first time since October of last year! That was too long of a gap between trips! Mom had a ladies luncheon that was amazing!! Such a blessing. The theme was "Fill My Cup, Lord." So, fitting. And I so needed that!! After the luncheon Dad took Drew and I out to the hen house and handed me a bucket and told me to collect eggs. Now, I looked into the roost where there was a budgy hen and I didn't think it was such a good idea to move her from over top her collection of eggs. But Dad insisted, so I picked her up and there was a whole bunch of eggs. Yeah, so they aren't pretty when you collect them. In fact they are pretty much disgusting and the last thing I wanted to do was pick them up. I know...total city girl! But that hen had sat on those eggs and well, I guess when they gotta go they just go right where they are....because the eggs had all sorts of lovely stuff on them. Ugh!! Yuck!! So, i picked them up carefully so I would not touch the sides of the eggs that were yucky and placed them in the bucket. Chickens smell really not so good. So, anyway, that was my first experience of that sort and when Drew decided to share with me the idea that he wants chickens......I can't say I warmed up to the idea or ever will. I think I prefer to see the eggs that I am going to eat nice and clean. That way I will actually WANT to eat them!! It was a fun time. After we collected eggs we went to go meet Abigails horse, Dot. Such a sweet thing!! And Abigail got to ride her for us. And Dot decided to take Abigail on quite the ride!! Thankfully, Abigail didn't fall off, but I thought for sure she was going to! Dot decided she wanted to full out gallop across the field and Abigail wasn't quite ready!! It was fun and Abigail got back on. Brave girl!! It was a great weekend!!

Going to the Chapel and We're Gonna get Married!!

Tonight Drew and I are going to a friends wedding near where we live. The guy is Drew's roomate from his senior year of college. Thinking about this wedding I have a hard time not remembering the wonderful day almost 3 years ago that Drew and I got married!! I keep thinking of the girl tonight and how this must be the longest day ever for her!! I got married at 11am and that morning was forever long for me!!! I can't believe that in less than 2 weeks we will have been married for 3 years!! Wow!! Time really does fly very quickly! I have an amazingly wonderful husband who treats me like a queen!! That isn't to say that I rule the roost or he caters to my every whim. No, i fact the opposite is true. He loves me unconditionally and I submit to him (or at least strive to) every day!! He is my king and my one true love in every possible way!! Here are some of our favorite wedding pictures!!

Working Woman!!

Here I am at 6am on a friday morning. Getting ready for work. Whew!! I miss just being a stay at home wife! I didn't get a chance to slow down last night till about 9pm because I had alot of laundry and cleaning to do and I made dinner cleaned up and baked my hubby a butter pecan cake!! I am not a morning person!! That is for sure!! Hopefully, the Lord will bless us here very soon with our own little bundle of joy and I can be at home again!! Until then.....I'm off to work!!

Grocery Shopping Spree!!

Wow! What a great day of savings!! I went to two stores this week again and saved a lot of money. My two stores are Publix and Kroger. This week I saved almost 75% on groceries!! My grand total before all of my coupons and store savings at both stores combined was $131.94. I paid $53.63 and saved $78.31!!!! That was awesome!!!

Fun couple of Days!!

Yesterday was so much fun!! I had the opportunity to go shopping with Drew's Aunt Aimee!! We had a really fun time!! I bought 2 new pairs of shoes and 2 night shirts. Then we went our for lunch to this amazing new restaurant called Cheddars. It was soo good!!!! It was just a really fun day!! Today i am going grocery shopping to save some money! I can't wait! I love to go and see what kinda of amazing deals I can get!! Hopefully soon we will have a coupon party with some of the ladies at church who also coupon. It should be a fun day!!

Trying to Get Back in the Swing of Things

This past weekend was an emotional roller coaster!! Mother's Day is not my favorite holiday by any means. Right now all I want to do is curl up on the couch and shut out everything else for the next 5 or so hours before my hubby gets home. I don't want to cook or clean or even workout today. But I need to. I am thankful for my best friend, Laurel. She is really great!! If I need help with anything or if I just need a shoulder to cry on she is there....even though she is about 300 miles away. God has blessed me with her friendship. It looks like I'll get to go visit her for a quick over night trip next month. That will be much needed!! I have known Laurel since before I started my freshman year of high school and we have pretty much been great friends ever since!! We talk every single day either on the phone, through facebook or text. I even got the cell phone plan that I have so that every call and text we send back and forth is unlimited coverage!! Drew just laughs at our antics. I can totally see us as two old bags one day still texting and calling each other when we are in our 90's!! Haha!!
Anyway, I am going to get my circuit completed for the day with P90 before the day gets away and I don't have the time. So, to my dearest friend, Laurel, thank you for being amazing and for putting up with my craziness for all these years!! I look forward to being friends for the rest of our lives!! Your definitely my one in a million friend!!

Happy Mother's Day-A tribute to My Mother

Today marks my 4th Mother's Day without the amazingly beautiful woman who is my Mother. I am amazed at the speed at which time passes because most of the time it feels like just yesterday that I would talk to her on the phone every day while in college and hear her laugh and sing-song voice as I shared all the fun and exciting new experiences as a freshman and sophomore. We would giggle about boys and laugh about crazy roommate antics that came with living in the dorms. I would leave out no detail!! It seems like yesterday that I would come home from college and curl up on the couch next to my amazing mom and lay my head in her lap while she played in my hair and talked about everything. Oh there are so many many memories of those last years. Those sweet times before bed that we would sit indian style on her and daddy's water bed with our Bibles and read and pray and share the wonderful truths of God's Word together in our own special devotion times. Those last days after hearing about how bad the cancer had really gotten were some of the most precious and painful memories. But they were moments with my amazing mom that I will never forget.
I was blessed, even if just for a little time, to have been raised by a woman who loved and feared God. Who loved me even when I was unloveable. A woman who became my best and most treasured friend. She saw me at my best and loved me at my worst. Without her I would not be the young woman I am today. Even though she is not here with me today, on this Mother's Day, in a way there will always be a part of her everyday in me.
One day I will see her smiling face again. And we can share an eternity of sweet moments together in the awesome and mighty presence of our Lord Jesus Christ!!
I love you and miss you so much, Mommy!! Happy Mother's Day!!
Love,
Your Daughter

Total Body Make-Over: Day 3-4

Ok, so i am beginning to adjust...maybe. How does someone adjust to this?? The cardio is my least favorite. It is so hard. On the cardio days I start out with power yoga (extremely hard!) then go into your main cardio with kickboxing and running in place and jumping jacks all strung together in some crazy psycho workout. Then I finally get to cool down a bit after about 30 minutes of torture only to endure the last 5 minutes of what they call the AB RIPPER. Yeah, have you ever felt like your abs were ripping in two?? Try this! You will understand!! 100 reps of crazy ab workouts in various and sundry crunch styles. Halfway through my abs were burning.....no I take that back....less than a quarter of the way through they burned. But I didn't give up!! I feel really great to be able to achieve this workout. But I totally look forward to the days of circuit!!! I can be skinny I can be skinny!!!!

Day 2 - Total Body Makeover with P90

Ok, todays workout of cardio and abs was tuff!! I was able to keep up and was able to do all the reps, but it was hard and I think I am going to be sore tomorrow. But I just gotta focus on the goal!! I want to be under 200 pounds by the end of the 90 days and I want to be wearing a 14. Thats 2 dress sizes!! We will see how it goes!!! I am excited to see the results!!

My total body makeover!!

So yesterday I began an endeavor that I NEED to finish!! And I decided that if I write about it each day that I will be more likely to keep it up as well!! I have begun Power 90's hot body boot camp. It is 90 days of intense workouts that you can do all in the comfort of your own living room. And after 90 days your supposed to have a total transformation. So, I am going to try it. My best friend, Laurel, is doing it with me. We shared our measurements yesterday and that was depressing for me. It is one thing to know your a size 18 when you go to the store, but when you take your measurements...that is a whole different kind of not cool.
Yesterday I started out with Circuit I-II and it was pretty easy. I went at my own pace and was able to do most of the reps and most of the excercises. Dealt mostly with weights and then added push ups (I do mine girly style and only was able to accomplish 7) and lunges and squats. This morning I am in a little bit of pain in my muscles, but that means I worked them. I'll let you know how today goes in a little bit!! So, here's to looking great for summer!!! Bring on the transformation!!!
5/3/2010
Beginning measurements and weight (this is painful, but at least I know it will change!!)
chest: 44inches
waist: 38 inches
left arm: 14 inches
right arm: 14 1/4 iches
hips: 49 inches
left thigh: 30 inches
right thigh: 30 1/2 inches
start weight: 228 lbs

On June 21st (the half way mark) I will be measuring again!!! I can't wait to see these horrid numbers go down!!

Been So Busy!!

I was about to write that it has been so busy, but I can't think of what has made it so busy!! lol!! In the middle of my Scentsy catalog party and that is going amazingly! It is seriously selling like hot cakes!! And I am couponing and loving it! Saved $37 dollars this week and only spent $16!! I did get a job. So, that is cool too!! I'm going back to work at the coffee shop that I worked at back when Drew and I first got married. It'll be fun, but hopefully I will get pregnant really soon and won't have to work for too long. I love just being a house wife. Other than that....life just keeps going on! And I love it!!

Fun week ahead!!

So, we got asked to spend the week at Drew's aunt and uncle's house while they are out of town. Get to spend some time with the cousins at their gorgeous new house!! It is going to be like a vacation for me!! I am very excited and honored that they asked us!!! Here's to a fun week!!

Grocery Savings!!

One of the things that i love to do as a house wife and help meet to my husband is to find ways to save lots of money on our grocery bill each week. Tonight I went to Publix for the first time grocery shopping and really was impressed with their deals as well as their store! I'll explain the amazing deals I was able to get and then explain how I got them. Tonight my bill total before coupons was $97. After all my coupons I paid $56.08. I had a total savings of $40.92!! That is pretty good!! My power buys were 3 boxes of Betty Crocker boxed potatoes for 20 cents a box, and 2 Yoplait FiberOne yogurts (4 pack) for 25 cents each!! Thats 8 yogurts for a whole 50 cents!!
This afternoon when I was getting ready for my grocery run I went to www.coupons.com, www.redplum.com, www.smartsource.com and used www.southernsavers.com to make my grocery list. At SouthernSavers you can click on the specific store of your choice and see what is on sale at that particular store and make a list to print out that tells you exactly what coupons to pair with each item to get the greatest savings!! It is an amazing tool!! Then I match my coupons to the items I am going to buy and go shopping and when I get to the register I can just watch the savings add up!!! if you have any questions about how to coupon feel free to ask me. I would be glad to help! If ever there was a time to be ever so careful with the money that God gives us it is now! Feel free to email me at livn4Jesus92600@aol.com anytime!

Happy Easter!

It is a wonderful Easter weekend!! We were able to get the house so totally in order that i finally feel almost settled. And I am falling in love with our house! We were able to install our brand new Samsung front loader washer and dryer yesterday and they work better than I could have imagined!! My dad and Kathy and my sister Katie are here for the weekend and it was so much fun giving them the grand tour (if you have been to our house you know how that goes two ways!). Going to just spend the weekend relaxing and enjoying family!! Wishing all of ya'll a lovely Easter weekend and a glorious Resurrection Sunday!

Excitingly crazy weekend!!

So, this weekend is going to be nuts!!! We are having a work day on Saturday starting at 10am!! Going to move all of our boxes that are on the 1st floor down to the basement and then we are going to get painting and crown moulding up and possibly even do some demolition to the kitchen (tearing down cabinets!!). Before Saturday I gotta get all of my kitchen gadgets boxed up and all of our canned goods boxed up and put in the back room that we are not doing anything to this weekend. Then I need to get the front bedroom free of boxes and move Mr. Darcy (my beloved cat) down to the basement (litter box and food bowl). He will love this because I can't keep him out of the basement now. He loves to go down there. I am waiting for the blessed day when he catches his first mouse!! We have deadlines now for the kitchen remodel which is awesome!! It looks like my house will be completed before the end of August!! We will sign on the dotted line for the process of my kitchen to begin the end of April and that usually takes 10-12 weeks! Before that we will have all the painting complete and the hardwood floors and carpet installed!!! I am so excited!!!! I will post pictures as soon as possible! And my lovely laundry room will be up and running and functionable after Monday night!!!! Oh how I love progress!!! Plus, Dad and Kathy and Kate are coming next weekend. It is going to be nuts!!! But fun!!!

Still under the weather!!!

Unfortunately, I got myself not feeling so swell!! I came down with a minor head cold on Saturday night and so Drew and I spent our Sunday sleeping and making sure we both took our meds!! Haha!! Totally felt like an old couple! Today (Monday) I am feeling better. Have an annoying cough, but thats it. Drew is home still playing the Nintendo Wii and can't talk. Pray he gets to feeling better soon. I love having him home, but I feel like I can't get anything done!! Is this what happens for other wives?? On the brighter and weirder side I was working out this morning and turned towards our big windows and there were humoungous beautiful puffy snowflakes falling from the sky! I could hardly believe my eyes! It is almost April and I live in the SOUTH!!! How crazy!! Well, hopefully we will see sunny skies and happier weather here soon!!