What's been happening

As I mentioned in the previous post, a lot has been happening these past weeks.

Rosa and Tony are our friends from church. They are a really sweet couple! Tony is our youth pastor at church.  Rosa is one the nicest people you would ever meet, she is always full of joy.

 On Jan. 20th Rosa went into labor to have their long awaited baby (since we thought little Emily was going to come since November). She gave birth to a healthy baby girl, Emily.

Soon after delivering she went into cardiac arrest, started seizing and her heart stopped twice that night. Both times the doctors revived her. That night they learned that she had an amniotic fluid embolism.

The main concern at that time was her lungs and her heart. Those turned out to be fine.

However Rosa's brain swelled. They put in a brain monitor on her brain to monitor the pressure. The doctors also gave her drugs to help the swelling decrease. They worked for a little while, but the swelling and pressure got even worse.

To help to get the pressure down she was put into an induced coma I believe on Tuesday or Wednesday this week.

The  pressure still didn't decrease. So the doctor decided to do a risky procedure and put in a drain to help ease the pressure.  That was last night.  The operation carried a risk of her hemorrhaging. But if it was not done the pressure could build up so much to where the brain cannot get oxygen.

The operation was successful, but has not helped the pressure.

At this time the doctors have exhausted all options and there is nothing else they can do.

All that we can do now is wait for God to work. He is the ultimate doctor, God made Rosa, he knows her the best and he is the only one that can heal her.

So if you are reading this please, please, please pray for Rosa and her husband Tony.
My heart breaks for Tony. Rosa has been on my mind since everything started happening. Compared to what is happening to her, everything seems small.

I don't even know what else to say. Just please pray for Rosa and Tony. Pray that Rosa's swelling will go down. Pray for Tony for strength.

**Edit 2/11
Rosa was taken out of the induced coma, I believe last Wed. She was doing well. She was starting to move more, and her brain pressure has been staying down by itself!! Which is a true blessing! :D

The doctors have been a little worried about a blood clot that is in her right arm. Which they can't give her blood thinners till the drip is out from her brain.

She now has a Staff infection now. Which we haven't been able to see her since it is contagious.
Tony told us yesterday that they took the drip/drain out from her head and they are planning on putting her on blood thinners to help with the clot. Rosa is also on antibiotics to help with the staff infection. Tony said she is looking really well, her swelling is way down. Which the last time we saw her,which was Sunday, she was looking really well! So continue to pray for her and Tony! God has done some amazing things already with Rosa! I am looking forward to seeing Him work more and more in her and Tony's life! :)

Shopping Trips+ Mail Freebies!

A lot has been going on lately. However that is for another post. Since this one will not be serious enough for what has been happening in this last week.

Right now Kroger is having their Mega 10 event!! :D That is where you buy 10 participating items and save $5 at the register. I got 10 items for UNDER $10! :)

I got:

4 nut clusters

3 boxes Wheat Thins

2 Bars of Kraft cheese

1 Box of Chewy bars

All for $9.18!!

All the items I had coupons for which made them even less plus I got the $5 off at the register! :D

Plus I got this:

Woohoo!! It was a total nice surprise! 

The past few days have been a great mail day! The things I have got online (the freebies) have started coming in! :D

I received: 

• A coupon from Stacy's Pita Chips for a FREE bag of chips

              (This was a Facebook offer)

• A coupon from Recycle Bank for a FREE bottle of natural all purpose cleaner.

                    (I don't use the Recycle Bank service, since we don't have a recycle pick up. But they were   doing a 100 free points for signing up and you can redeem the points for stuff, so I picked the cleaner.)

I also signed up to get this cute sippy cup from Juicy Juice.

 I figured that I could give to someone who has little ones. :)

Plus I received 3 different calendars in the mail!! One of which I hung in the kitchen, I think I'm going to give one away and keep the other one, since they have yummy looking recipes in it :)

Today I went to Target to get my free cleaner and to scope out the clearance items ( I like looking to see if I have a coupon and can get some cheap stuff) 

This trip cost me....

A PENNY!!! :D

The cleaner was free (with the coupon above)

The Visine was 1.99- had a $2 coupon

The ivory soap was $1.07- had a $1 coupon

I used a reusable bag got $.05 off  and the total came up to be $.01!!

It was AWESOME!! :D I was very excited!

I also got 6 Reach toothbrushes for .85 at Walgreens this week! :) Yay!

That's all folks! :)

Have a lovely night!

A Delicious, Cheap Dinner

Even though I cooked this about a few weeks ago, I wanted to share with you my excitement about how cheap this dinner was!! :D


Here it is:

French Bread Pepperoni Pizza!

 I found the bread in the discount bread section at Kroger for $ .87. 

The sauce was Ragu that I got for $1.99

The cheese (pizza blend) was on sale for $1.49

The pepperoni was free!! :D

The total cost of this meal was $4.35!! Woohoo! 

We each were able to make 2 pizzas and we ate two and froze the others, which didn't last long we ate them before the next week! :) So 4 pizzas cost $1.08 each to make!

Plus we still have some cheese and about a forth of the pepperoni left! 

If you are wondering how to make these:

1. We had the oven at 350. (we have a gas oven so things cook faster than normal)

2. Cut french bread in half (hamburger way, then hotdog way)

3. Get your Ragu. Use very sparingly. I read if you put too much then it will make it soggy.

4. Put on your toppings! With cheese try not to put it too close to the edge so it doesn't melt off.

       (There is a blend of Kroger brand cheese that says pizza blend, that is what we used)

5. I believe we put them in the oven for 20 minutes. Basically enough for the cheese to melt and the bread to get crispy. 

(If you need more instructions, there are many recipes for it online)

Such a simple dinner and it was SOO yummy! :D

*Edit* 1/31

Tonight I made mini English Muffins pizzas! I did the same as above, and cooked them for about 8 minutes. They were really yummy! So it seems any type of bread you want to try or is at a good price will be yummy made into a pizza! :D

Back to Life...

Back to Reality... Sorry couldn't resist! :D

This past week school started for me. Which coming back from a month off is a little hard... actually it's just the waking up early. I enjoyed my sleep when I was on break :)

 This semester will be an interesting one for me! I am starting practicum. Practicum is where I do 45 hours and teach 7 lessons, I do that before student teaching. And honestly I'm a little nervous! It has been a whole year since I have been in the school teaching lessons, last semester I had no field work. So I think if anything it is just the habit of getting in the school, once I get started it's not bad and I'm not too nervous. :)

I'm happy because teaching lessons is not too bad anymore! I still get nervous, but not like I'm-about-to-get- sick nervous!

It is crazy to think that I will be graduating this December!! AHH! That's a little nerve-racking and exciting all in one!

Back to thinking about the now...this semester I am taking:
- Evaluation and Accountability- it's about giving tests...for the 1 class I've had (it's a Mon night only class) it was boring.
- Preschool Curriculum and Instruction- a Wed night only class...I'm hoping this will be fun. But it's with the same professor as the class above, and I have already gotten the classes mixed up when trying to do homework! lol
- Essential Elements of Music- right now we are learning the staff and the notes, beats, pitch, etc. Which I have already learned in band. Should be an easy A :)
- Wellness and Fitness for Children- my 1 credit hour class. I think it'll be fun
- Practicum- which will be MWF mornings.

The great thing is most of the same people are in most of those classes. Actually one of my friends is in all of them (excluding Practicum) :) I actually have the same group of friends in Evaluation, Preschool, and Wellness :D

Other than school not much has been happening.

I went to visit my great grandma, but that was before school started. She was having a good day and was so happy me! She is so funny! At one point she said "Eww something stinks" Donna (my mom's cousin, she's been taking care of her for about 5 years now) was there too and she asked granny if she farted. Granny said "No", pointed to Donna, and made a funny face as if Donna did it. lol That is one of the things I love about my great grandma, she always has had a great sense of humor! She will be 95 this April, and she is still hilarious!

I picked up our prints of our wedding photos that I ordered on Friday...in the icky weather. We got an album with our package deal for the wedding, but I wanted some prints to put in frames. I ordered cute ones of Joey and I, some of me and my dad, and one of Joey and I with his granddad and G-ma.

Other than that I have been just doing housework...cleaning up after the kitties.  They make such a mess, but I love em'! It's either that or telling them not to do something or to get off of something. Usually it's the table. They love to get on it, and it being forbidden for them to get on just entices them even more! Little stinkers!

 Burney has a new weird habit of going to a corner of the wall and stretching up (standing on his back legs) and scratching the wall with his front paws. The sound is horrendous!! Like nails on a chalkboard. I'm hoping he'll grow out of that!

Alright, I feel like going and being productive. So I better go and do stuff before I don't feel like it anymore! :)

Have a sunny day!

My Free items for this week!

I love getting free stuff!! This week I got 18 free items!! :D This week was a great week at Kroger for free stuff!

Kroger:
- 2 G2 Gatorades $1.00 each
- 2 Yakisoba .89 each
- 1 Steamfresh Veggies $1.00
- 1 Hormel Pepperoni $1.00
- 2 Starkist $1.00 each
- 2 Wonka Gummies $1.00 each

Used:
From Newspaper:
- 2- .50 Gatorade coupons
- 2- .50 Yakisoba
- 1- .35 Steamfresh Veggies
Online Printable coupons:
- 1- .35 Hormel pepperoni
- 2- .50 off Starkist
- 2- $1.00 Wonka Gummies

Target:
- 2 Reach floss .97 each
- 2 Cat treats 1.07 each

Used:
- 2- $1 Reach floss
- 1- 2.00 Cat treats
- 1 - $1.00 Target coupon for cat treats

Here is my Walgreens Trip I have previously talked about.

I got all of these for free!! :D

This week's total would have been:
$30.02!!

Wow!! How awesome is that! $30.02 worth of groceries for free!

Of course none of this would be possible without God blessing me with finding these deals and the resources to be able to go to the stores! I want to give the glory to where it is due.

Hope you enjoyed and this helped in some way! :)

Have a great day!

Dissapointed

It has happened. I have fallen behind in my 90 day reading plan as I have previously talked about. (I am trying to follow the plan to read the Bible in 90 days).

However I could feel my failure before I fell behind. I waited until right before bed to read the chapters for the day. I was sleepy and trying to read at least 10 chapters a night. Not a good combination. Why did I wait till the last moment to read. I had plenty time during the other part of the day, but I didn't read. Instead I was doing other things. Things that could have waited until after I read.

Today I just finished Exodus. I am supposed to be in Numbers already. Ugh! Why did I do this?!

I guess because I didn't set a time. I don't have a designated time each day for reading God's Word. That made it harder for me to sit down and read.

So I have decided that I will read along with the 90 day plan schedule, but I will just take 94 days! :) I will read in the morning once I wake up. I have practicum so I will have to wake up early to begin with. So this makes me a little nervous saying that. But I can do it. I don't want to be selfish, I want to spend time reading my Creator's words.

Pray for me that I can make myself get up and read my Bible. I've heard once you do something for 21 days it becomes a habit. I want reading my Bible to be a habit. I want to know more. I want to long for and be hungry for the Word.

Target, Kroger, and Walmart

This and the last post were not right after another, this trip was last week :)

Kroger had a great Catalina going on and a good deal. Target had some free stuff (with using coupons) that I wanted to pick up!

Here is what I bought

It looks like I paid a ton. However I was given a late Christmas gift ($20!)

Target Trip

- 2 Johnson &Johnson First Aid Kits

- 2 Axe Body Washes w/ manly puffs attached

- 1 pack of lightbulbs

-1 spiral

-1 pack dishwasher tabs

- 1 basket

- 1 colander

What I used:

- 2 $1 off J&J product - made them FREE! (normally .97)

- Axe Body Washes were buy 2 ($5.00 each) and get $5.00 gift card

        (I had 2 $1 off coupons, but only one went through, making the total paid for both $9 or just $4 if you     count the gift card)

- $1 off coupon of lightbulbs + what I thought was a $1 off Target coupon for the lightbulbs, but now I think I accidentally used 2 Manufactors coupons (which they normally will not let you use. The cashier didn't look, and I didn't do that on purpose)- made them FREE!

-  $2.50 off Finish dishwasher tabs- made them .68!

- The colander was on clearance for $3.17

- The basket was on clearance for $3.38

1st Transation:

- Dishwasher Tabs

- Lightbulbs

-Axe

Normal Total: $23.87

Paid: $9.47

Saved: $14.40

Recieved a $5 gift card

2nd Transation:

- Basket

-Colander

- 2 First Aid Kits

- Notebook

Normal Total: $12.34

Used $5 gift card

Paid: $3.29

Saved: $ 4.05

This whole trip I used my Christmas money. And I still had $7.21 left! :D

Kroger Trip

- 2 Pantene Shampoo- $2.88 each

- 3 Ragus - $1.99 each

- 2 Special K water mix in 2 for $5

What I did was I bought the 3 Ragus to stock up on them since there was a buy 3 and get a $2 catalina ( $2 to use on your next purcase). Which the new Kroger in Rosenberg/Richmond did not automatically print the catalinas, my cashier didn't even know what that was! The lady had to call over her manager and I had to explain the catalina deal to the manager. The manager sent the bag boy to go and check to see on the shelf if it said what I told her. It was a long ordeal. But totally worth it!

1st Transaction:

- 3 Ragus $1.99 each

      used .75 off coupon

- 2 Pantene 2.88 each

      used 3.00 off 2 coupon

Got $2 catalina

Paid: $7.98

2nd Transaction:

- 2 Protein mixes

     used $1 off of 2

     were on sale for 2 for $5

     used $2 catalina

 Paid: $2 for both!! $1 each!

Total for Kroger: $9.98

Total Saved: $12.55

Walmart Trip

-Fusion razor blades

I used the rest of the Christmas money I had and I only paid $8.46

Total for all these trips: $18.44 that I paid (not counting the $20 gift)

Total saved: $31 plus the $20 I had so like I saved $51!!

I was so happy to find such a great deal on Axe and the Pantene. Joey now has stuff in the stockpile :)

Other than these deals, I found some great Christmas stuff deals at Target, which were on sale for 75% off. I got some Christmas time Kleenax and York Peppermint Patties for .74 each. I got the Peanuts Christmas special CD for $2.49!! I used some other Christmas money for deals too. Lol I couldn't resist the cheap Christmas stuff!

Just yesterday I went to Walgreens. Here is a great deal, if you have the B1G1 free coupon for Oust. I went Sunday. Right now Walgreens has a sale for Oust B1G1 free. I wasn't sure if this would work, but it did!! I combined the Walgreens sale with the 2 B1G1 Free coupons I had. I got 4 FREE!!! No our house is not that stinky...it will go into the stockpile! I couldn't believe it! Usually I can never find deals at Walgreens! Our's is usually out of the product or the deal doesn't work.

So if you have that coupon and need some Oust or are even driving by, stop in to Walgreens and try to get your free 2 Ousts. I heard though that they might actually want you to buy one, so grab 4. You will get 3 free and will have to pay $4.29.

Christmas Decorations and Deals!

It's been a while since I have posted about the deals that I have gotten :) These happened back in the end of December.

Oh, I want to share pictures of our Christmas decorations :)

My grandpa made these! My family has had these since I was little. There used to be a mommy reindeer but she broke. So now we have the daddy and baby reindeer.

Here's our fireplace :) The stockings and garland were just a $1 each! Our lil nativity scene is in the center, it's a little one, so it might be hard to see.

This was my favorite and one that made me so excited. The candle holder was free, my grandma gave it to me. The garland was the rest of what was around the fireplace ($1), the red were broken mardi gras beads! Then the cross is an ornament, I taped to the bottom of the candle holder so it would stand up, my mother gave me. So the total cost of that $1!! Then the angel on the right, my great grandma gave me :)

Oh! We had lights around our window, but I forgot to take a picture of that!

Alright onto the deal pictures!

A trip to Kroger, Kohl's, Bath and Body Works and Target.

This is my Kroger Trip.

They were/are having a PG&E sale, buy $25 of PG&E products and get $5 off.

I used:

- $1 off Bounty

- $1 off Fusion shave gel

- $1.50 off Fusion shave gel

- B1G1 Free Always Liner

- $.50 off Dawn (doubled to $1, got the big Dawn for $1)

- $1.50 off Dawn Pump (got it for .50!)

My total for that trip would normally be: $35.12

I paid: $ 12.96!!

Saved: 22.16

This is my Kohl's Trip. I had a $10 gift card.

This was on super clearance, since you can guess, it's for Fall :)

Normal cost: $14.99

I paid: $4.49! (really nothing bc of the gift card)

Saved: $10.50

My Bath and Body Works Trip. I had a $5 credit.

Got:

- lotion $2.37(normally 9.50)

- puff $1.50 (6.00)

- Cinnamon sticks oil $1.87 (7.50)

Total: $5.74

Only had to pay $.74! :D

Target Trip

- Steaz Tea- FREE bc of coupon

- Penguin Plates: 50% off .99 each

- 2 Dove chocolates- .49 each!!

         (They were 50% off and I had 2- $1 off coupon!!)

- York Peppermint Patties- 50% off: $1.49

- Kisses- were a gift for my dad :)

Normal Total: $20.68

Paid: $7.50

Saved: 13.18

The total of all the trips was: $21.20! :D

Yay!!

I think the PG&E sale is still going on at Kroger. So if you need any of that stuff and have coupons, I would go and stock up!

Our stockpile is getting bigger! I am so excited! I am thankful that I am able to stockpile and find great deals. God blesses me with finding the deals so that I may be a better steward of our money. Eventually we will have a stockpile that will allow us to cut back on grocery expenses. Perhaps I will take a picture and share it with ya'll :D

Have a sunny day!

2010 Goals

Each year I decide I want to change something, I make a resolution or goal. I never follow through. I thought if I actually told someone it would help me to follow through.

Here are my goals:

Personal:
- work out more, start to feel healthier
- Finish reading/read more of The Excellent Wife. Put what I read into practice.
   o Become a better wife
- Be more patient, and slow to get frustrated or angry.
- Read more books for fun.
- Be more organized. Be able to better balance school, housework, and being a wife. (Normally around finals housework suffers and I feel bad because it does) I want to be able to start earlier on projects and get some homework done earlier than trying to do it the night before.
- Cook more at home

Spiritual: 
- Live more where people can see Christ through me
- Share Christ with someone
- Read the Bible in 90 days.
      o I saw this on another ladies blog, she has a specific Bible for it, but I just found the plan online.
          - If you are interested...you can Google "90 day bible  reading challenge" it will be the pdf, 4 things down (sorry I couldn't link it)
      o This one will be hard for me, I have tried to do a reading plan before, however I failed once I got in Leviticus. This plan calls for a least 30 minutes of reading a day. There are so many things I do that I could do less in order to make time to read God's word. One thing that I am giving up that I can use that time, is surveys. They take up a lot of time when you do them, and I am getting little out of them! Instead I can spend time in the Word and get spiritually fed.

Financial:
- Save more!
      o I totaled up what I have saved since that day I took the coupon class in late September to Dec. 28th
           We have saved a total of $622.86!!! How amazing! I am so thankful and blessed that I was able to learn through other sisters in Christ how to be a better steward of the money God has given us! :)
- Be able to bless others through our savings. I want to give back, since God blesses me with finding deals to save money.

I want my goals to be on this blog, not to make myself look any better...I want to help it hold me accountable and remind me what I want to do this year! I don't want it to be that April comes and I can't even remember what I said in January!

Today is a beautiful day!
Have a great day!

2009

Wow! 2009 is already over! Happy 2010!

Doesn't that sound so futuristic?!

I figured a lot of people are reflecting upon their year. I figured I would do the same, so that way I can read this later and remember :)

2009 was an amazing year! It started out absolutely wonderful! I married my best friend, the best man I could ever ask for and more! Then we had our honeymoon and got to travel. That was nice!

I guess if I had to sum up 2009 in a word it would be: new.

• I started a new life with my husband... I became a wife!
• I love being a wife! There are times where it is hard. Reading The Excellent Wife has made it harder. That might sound silly, but I have learned what I am to do and not to do according to God's Word. That is what makes it harder, since there are times I do things I shouldn't do, then I feel awful. I guess it is kinda a "DUH!" But in The Excellent Wife, it states that even something like nagging your husband dishonors God. I am thankful that that has now sunken in! There are times where I can do things that make Joey happy and I love making him happy! I like doing housework knowing that it makes Joey happy and that honors God all in the same time! :) I love being with my husband! Even if we aren't doing anything but watching Tv. It is awesome! :D

• In April we moved into our first house!
• For the first time we have had a yard to keep up with. We have a house that needs to be cleaned, it seems more than our lil apartment needed to be. Well of course we only had 2 cats then! We have been very blessed with our house! We don't deserve it, but God blessed us! What an awesome God! :)

• We got a new kitty!
• You can read more about him here. Burney was our surprise kitty! But through that experience of his rescue, it once again showed me one of the reasons why I love Joey! I was so proud, and still am, of him for stopping and picking up Burney off the road. Burney has been a blessing on our family. Yao loves him and Daisy loves to play with him! :) He makes me smile and teaches me patience, along with the other two cats! lol

• New Traditions
• I try not to be the person that does things just for the sake of doing it because it's a tradition. In fact, this year we did not have a Christmas tree. Not that we couldn't afford one, I just didn't want to pay so much money for one! ( I was planning on hitting the after Christmas sales to get one, turns out someone has one that are not using, so we will have one next year) One tradition that I wanted to start this year, but things were a little crazy at the beginning of Dec. was doing advent, or something that focused on the real Christmas story for the whole month.
• I think this is something that is important for us to remember and reflect on; the miracle of Christmas. It's a tradition or something I want to do with our kids.
• We did receive an advent calendar for a gift, and I plan to put a Bible verse in each day, that we will read sometimes that day. Early in the month I plan to have some the prophecy, and as it gets closer to the 25th, then the Matthew or Luke story will begin. I might but December 24th as the last of the Christmas story, then the 25th something about His second coming.
• We did read the story of Christ's birth on Christmas morning. I liked that :)

2009 has been a year full of blessings! Of course, I have had 21 years of blessings! :) God is amazing, even though I could never deserve what I have, God continues to shower more blessings upon me!

Happy New Years everyone!