I See, says the blind man!

Over the years God has guided us through many big decisions. Whether or not to get out of the military (without a job mind you), blessing us with three healthy girls, amazing small groups that are always exactly what we need, financial blessings, the list goes on you get the point. As time continues, He reveals to us pieces of his plan. Showing his fingerprints all over our lives and constantly reassuring that we are taken care of. Here are a couple things He has revealed:

1. Lynnwood was an amazing agency for C to work for. He loved it! Braggin on the boy a bit, he was "IT" in the academy and slowly made a name for himself at his new department. Lynnwood has the best equipment, administrative support and better than decent pay. Two years after being a cop here, c got the opportunity to work in our home town and we jumped on it. Sadly leaving our small group but excited to be home with family.
In the years that followed Lynnwood has slowly gone down the tube. One of their administrators was convicted of stealing drugs and money from evidence. Huge black mark on the city and faith in the officers. When C worked there they had about 67 officers for a city that was 7 square miles. Doesnt sound like much huh? Well, during the day the population would double because of the businesses that were housed there, so many times officers would be alone on a call. **not the case in Kennewick** Next praise, God provided C a job to get his feet wet giving us the opportunity to transfer home after two years. He spared us the drama of admin failures and now the city may have to lay off 25 officers. Wow, we didnt see that coming but oh how he cares for us!

2. The followup house praise. As most of you may know, the economy sucks right now. Well right before the "bubble popped" we sold our home in Everett (in 30 days) and got out with enough to put a 20% down payment on a newer nicer home in T-town. Huge praise, God helped by orchestrating finances for us and we did not even know it. Amazing he is (in a Yoda voice)!

Jeremiah 29:11 has been on my heart and mind lately. Enjoy!

"For I know the plans I have for you", declares the Lord, " plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Nooner

If you know me, you probably know that not much embarasses me. Most topics are on the table and I usually start our friendship with the fact that I once ate out of the garbage while pregnant just so C cant hold that over my head. Well, today I outdid myself.

I called C because it looked like I had missed a call from him. He answered and proceeded to tell me that he would not be home from lunch b/c he and another guy from work had to go pick someone up in Spokane. I replied (joking), "So does that mean our "nooner" is off?" His retort, "Babe, you are on speaker phone." (laughing in the background)-----me horrified---Information that would have been useful 10 seconds prior. Oh well, it is what it is. C said, " I would be happy to take you up on the "nooner" tomorrow though. " UGH!

Ok, no nooner was taking place just to be clear. Just a joke, we have three kids for goodness sake there is no place to steal away for stuff like that. So there you have it. It takes quite a bit to embarass me, but I managed to do it.

Cereal Stock Up

It has been about 4 months since I last shopped for cereal, crazy. I would buy a bag here or there, I take that back. I got two bags last month for FREE! So, I didnt really buy it, that term was relative. Anywhoo, Safeway has a slammin deal going on right now. Buy 4 participating General Mills cereals, get $4 off instantly and a free box of Nature Valley Granola Bars. Boom! Also, I loaded my Safeway card with cellfire.com and shortcuts.com coupons. I had never done this before. To make it even a little more interesting, I did not have my Safeway card, so I was able to load them with the card number and then when I checked out I just entered my phone number and the coupons still worked. I was sooooooooo happy. Here is how it worked:

Buy 2 Apple Cinnamon Cherrios (my fav!)

Buy 1 Cocoa Puffs

Buy 1 Golden Grahams

Buy 1 box of Nature Valley Granola Bars

Use loaded coupons from cellfire and shortcuts.com

$.75/1 off GM Cherrios

$.55/1 off GM Cocoa Puffs

$.75/1 off GM Golden Grahams

$.50/1 Nature Valley Granola Bars

-and-

(2) $1/2 GM Cereals from SS 7/11

$.50/1 Nature Valley Granola Bars from smartsource.com

Total OOP= $2.91 AND I got a $1.50 Catalina

I was unaware of whether or not the coupons would be immediately dismissed from my safeway card, so I repeated the transaction. To my dismay, they do delete after usage, but I had a $1.50 catalina to roll into it. So, the second transaction was identical and it cost me $3.46 OOP and I got another $1.50 catalina. So for the total, I spent $6.37 and got

4 boxes of GM Apple Cinnamon Cherrios

2 boxes of GM Cocoa Puffs

2 boxes of GM Golden Grahams

2 boxes of NV Granola Bars and I still have $1.50 to spend. Good couponing experience!

Happy shopping

Couponers Heart

My last 3 albies doublers have been burning a hold in my couponing box, but I did not want to go and spend just to get rid of them. However, I went by Yokes (because I am a produce/meat snob and refuse to buy that at Walmart any more) to get some bananas and feta. While I was there I thought I would check the Bisquick b/c we were out of the heart healthy type and I wanted to see if it was on sale. Well good timing for me! It was on sale for $2.99/box and there were some $1 off peelies on the front of them. Needless to say, I got to use my doublers. Did I need 3 boxes of Bisquick? No, but I got all 3 for less than the price I would have paid for 1, BOOM! $2.97 of 3 boxes of the best pancake batter known to man.

Other couponing deals that I doubled were:

Yokes

$1.99 Coffee mate creamer on sale (that includes Peppermint Mocha, they have it now!)

- use $.50/1 from SS 5/2

- use Albies doubler

$1 each. Not a killer deal but if you are desperate for Peppermint Mocha as I am, this will speak to your heart.

$.99 Dentyne Pure Gum (found up front by video bar, Kennewick)

-use $1 from ?

free!

$1.99 Gilette Shaving Gel

-use $1/1 from 7/4 P&G

-use a doubler

FREE!

I got my husby 3 of these. Free stuff always tastes, feels, seems better in my humble opinion. but to be clear I am not tasting the shaving gel. Im just sayin that free food tastes better.

SIDEBAR*** On the topic of being a produce/meat snob. For a couple years we shopped exclusively at Walmart (pre couponing). Not only do I feel like I need to be packin' every time I go into there, but their quality (spesifically on meat and produce) sucks. Everytime I would buy fruit there it was go bad very fast. Or, I would get it home and some of my strawberries in the middle of the container would have mold growing on them. Their ground beef was way too stringy. I like to know that the meat I am eating was indeed beef at one point and when it looks like spag. noodles, not very appetizing. So there you have it. I love the produce and meat at Yokes. I can always score some meat that is on sale and stock up, and I am yet to be disappointed with the freshness of their fruits and veggies. I would encourage you to hit their fresh Friday sales b/c you can come away from there with some really competitively priced items. Even better deals than the ones I used to score at Walmart. ***End of Rant

Reign in me!

God showed himself to me today. I didnt deserve it, but he loved me anyway.
Our van transmission went out today. We were planning on going to the Hermiston waterpark with the kids today. At the last minute we changed our mind and asked C's parents if we could go over and swim. On our way there, we noticed the van making a funny noise. We called the most wonderful garage ever.....the Hiland Garage. This is owned and operated by a friends family and they have always been great to work on our vehicles. Carl (the dad) agreed to "listen" to our car today as he was not really opened, but in the shop working none the less. So we drove there and had him take the car around the block. At first, C and I thought we were losing it b/c we were not hearing the noise anymore. Then he put it in neutral and tried to go to drive again and it was sluggish and making a noise. We barely made it back to his shop and he said it is shot.
**sidebar, can you imagine if we would have gone to hermiston? we would have gotten stuck on the side of the road, in 102degree weather and that would have sucked. ***
Carl went the extra mile with us to check on our warranty and whatnot. We are covered, praise God. Jaimie 5 years ago would have freaked out. Heck, Jaimie 2 years ago probably would have freaked out. Car problems usually stress me out. He said that it is recommended to service the tranny around 105000, we are at 70000. There should be no problems. Carl said that it is completely shot and we should not try to drive it to the dealership. Another praise, the tow is covered under the warranty! So we will be calling Monday morning and getting it to the dealership.
At one point C asked Carl how much it would cost, worst case scenario, to just leave the van there and have them fix it. Labor, new transmission, parts, everything. He said 3 grand. Wow! He encouraged us to use our warranty. I immediately looked at C and said, "this is why we buy new." Thank you God for this blessing!
Next blessing. I think God is trying to tell me to slow down a bit. When I learned that I might be without a car this week (for those who know me, I am a "go" girl. i love to go. hawaiians would say "holo holo") I felt relieved. I cannot go work out. I cannot do anything but stay here with my children. I cannot do anything but work on my house. I can rest. Wow! Who knew I needed to be without a car to realize I needed to slow down? Thank you God for this insight.
So, what did I learn today? I was brought back to the realization that God has all my cares and concerns in his hands. He is taking care of each little detail and I need not worry about "tomorrow". Thank you God for teaching me this and please forgive me God needing this reminder .

James 1:2-4
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith developes perseverance. Perseverance must finish it's work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Seize the Deal

So I found this website yesterday and there is still time to "seize the deal". Currently the deal is to buy a $20 gift card to Fiesta Mexican Restaurant for $10. There is a limit of 1 per person but this free money people. Jump on the wagon. As of this morining there were 44 hours left on the sale. If you click on the link below, I get credit for referring people to their site:

http://www.seizethedeal.com/users/new/yqiSPDKKC

For those of you who have not been to Fiesta, they have two locations. One off Road 68 in Pasco and one in Kennewick by Walmart. They are Christian owned and I continue to be impressed with their prices, food and outstanding service. The owner took the time to come and chat with my husband and I about how they recently went "alcohol free" and our take on that. They have specials thru the week, but our fav night to go is Tuesday. This night they have 1/2 price steak fajitas and C and I share one and come home plenty full. Their salsa bar with homemade tortillas is my fav. part of the whole thing. I seriously could eat just that, but it may be frowned upon.

Anyways, lovin free food and lovin Fiesta Restaurant!

Catcher in the Rye

Years ago there was a movie. In this movie the character could not go past a copy of "catcher in the rye" without buying it. For the life of me I cannot remember the name of this movie but it has put one of my obsessions into perspective. Each year I buy school supplies. Not just for the children I have attending school, but for moi. I love the smell of a fresh box of $.25 crayola crayons from Walmart. I love those almost as much as I love the spiral notebooks that they have for $.15. I bought 12. Some will be for the girls, but the majority are for me. I love the feeling of having a new book of paper to write in. Couponing strategy, absentee notes, finances, you name it. This also doubles for a last minute gift. "art supplies" are a great birthday present. Give a spiral notebook, some crayone and maybe some stickers and the kid will think you are amazing. Little do they know that cost you about $1. Boom. I love school supplies and they are on sale now at Walmart. I bought now just in case they run out when I "need" them.

It's the little things that make me happy! This verse also has been making me happy:

James 1:2-4
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.