Continuing with JOY- 53 weeks of Family Scripture Memorization

As I told you last week, February was a hard week for us.  We were very glad to see March come, and even more excited to spend a month focusing on scripture that talks about Joy.  We needed some joy in our days.

Thanks to the help of some incredible church friends, we are moved into our new house.  Yep, furniture, stuff and all.  Only a few more pictures remain to be hung and a garage to better organize, but other than that it is done.  Talk about joy! ;)

But for me, the greatest joy this week was being helped and loved on by friends who love like Jesus does. Regardless of our weaknesses, regardless of our sin, regardless of our faults and even regardless of our messy move.

Regardless. Of. Anything.

That is how God loves us, my friend, and if that does not bring joy to your heart, I am not sure what will.  How I rejoice this week that God loves me regardless.  Let us shout for joy to all who will listen!

Blessings,

Lessons Learned from Our 16th Move

As a follow up to Our Unexpected Move, I thought I would give you a quick update and some lessons learned.

We started moving stuff over to the "new" house on Tuesday of last week.  Yesterday we finished.  7 days!  We still have pictures to be hung and a garage to be organized, but other than that - D-O-N-E!

Yes, we are that good.

HA!!  Not really! ;)  We have friends that are that good!  A dear friend and her children spent most of the week with us taking carload after carload over to the new house.  How's that for dedication? Then her hero husband took half of a day off and helped us move stuff on Friday.  And then, a boatload of the best people on earth came from our church on Saturday and moved everything else over in THREE hours.  Including a swing set that was half buried in a lot of snow. I am not kidding.  They are the best!  And they did (in three hours!) what it normally takes movers 8 hours to do.  Did I mention they are the best?

And even though this was our 16th move in 21 years, there were a few more lessons to be learned. Aren't there always?

Lessons Learned
Books weigh more than you think they do.  A lot more.

No matter how much you have purged in the past, there is always more stuff you can let go of.

Stuff is not as important as people.

You do not need as much as you think you do.

There is such a disease as too-much-school-curriculum-itus.  Ask me how I know.

Even if you are Miss Clean, there is dirt and dust hiding everywhere.  Again, ask me how I know.

Church friends are the best.

Many hands make light work.  Yes, my mom told me this a lot when I was a child, I should have listened.

Young Living essential oil Valor is good at calming psycho dogs who seem convinced you are going to decide that this is the time you are going to abandon them. (Not that the thought didn't cross my mind several times! heehee)

My husband is the best.  I knew this too, but wanted to remind you all, in case you were wondering.

Sometimes when people question your honesty and decisions, God steps in.  Today the bedroom my daughter had been living in had more water flood in.  It makes me feel terrible for the owner, but I also know beyond a shadow of a doubt we made the right decision to move.  Peace has settled in my heart.

God is faithful and good and provides.

So, what next?  Oh my goodness, I pray a little peace and normalcy!  Back to school, kids!

Blessings,

Frugal Room by Room

I love to save money.  It tends to be an obsession with me if I am not careful.  I have found that it is like a game and I want to be the winner.  Well, especially since every other game I play with the kids I usually lose at.  Just saying.

But being frugal- now that I can do!

 Let's be frugal room by room!

Kitchen - This is my favorite room to save in so I will share a few of the easier ways I have found to save a few pennies.
     Buy whole chickens, cook and use the meat for several meals!

     Don't waste your money on expensive children's snacks.  Make several batches of cookie dough at once at freeze it in rolls.  When your kids are hungry just pull out a roll, cut and pop them in the oven.

    And paper towels?  A HUGE waste of money.  All you need is a stack of while multi-purpose cloths.

Laundry Room - Make your own laundry detergent.  Trust me on this one - it is far less expensive and it is better for you and your family!  You can use the recipe we use or do a quick search on the internet.  There are many floating around.

Bathrooms - No more chemicals here!  We found a few homemade cleaner recipes that use essential oils and we love them.  Instead of hundreds of bottles of different cleaners, we have two main ones we use.  Easy and cost effective!

Dining Room - We do not use paper napkins in this house.  Honestly, my family was just going through them like no tomorrow and it was driving me crazy.  I found a bunch of cloth napkins on sale and a few friends have given me some and that is all we use now.  Yes, I wash them often, but at least I feel like we are not just throwing more paper into the trash can.

Outside - OK,OK, I know it is not a room, but let's face it, growing your own food does save money.  You don't have to have a farm to do so, either.  Raised beds are the rage right now as well as container gardening.  Check out Pinterest for a ton of ideas!

Kid's Rooms - Stop buying stuff!  Yes, it is that easy!  Well, for the parents.  Our new rule around here is no new toys and stuff unless it is your birthday or Christmas.  The end.  I know it may sound harsh, but I am going to tell you - my kids do not need more stuff.  I promise you they have enough to keep them and probably the whole neighborhood entertained.  No shopping, no spending. It's a pretty easy way to save.

So how about you?  How are you saving money room by room?  We would love for you to share.  If you have a post about this very thing, feel free to leave the link for us.  Beginning on Wednesday, you can also check out how fellow TOS Review Crew members are Being Frugal!

Blessings,

Bring on the JOY! 52 weeks of Family Scripture Memorization, week 10

I am gonna just say it like it is- I have never been so glad the month of February is over.  Seriously. And seriously sad, too!  It was a month full of sickness and challenges and hard decisions.

It. Was. Not. Fun.  

And, yes, I know, life is not about fun.  Really, I know that.  But you know that sometimes what your head knows and what your heart feels are just miles apart.  Am I the only one that struggles with that? OK, maybe I do not want to know the answer to that.

But trust me, this month is going to be different.  Actually, this MONTH may not be different, but I am going to be different.  And since God's timing is always perfect I had already been led to concentrate on J-O-Y verses this month.  JOY is what I need.  

Not just happiness, mind you, but JOY that comes from the Lord.  Because I know He cares for and loves us.  Because I know that He has our backs.  And because I know He is in control.

I am resting in those things this month!   How about you?

Blessings,

Unexpected Move

Yep, you read it right.  We are moving.

But for once, this is not the military's fault, idea!

And thank goodness, it is just down the street from where we currently live.  Hey, trying to look on the bright side of things.

So just why are we moving?

Allergies.

Severe allergies!

If you follow us on FB you may have recently seen me mention that our oldest was diagnosed with serious environmental allergies.  As in 60 out of the 63 things she was tested for came back positive.  Severely so.  You name it, she is allergic to it - pollen, molds, trees, grass, cats, dogs, dust, and on and on and on.  It was not a fun day of testing. It was not a fun day period.  It can never be a good sign when a nurse enters the room, takes one look at your daughter's inflamed back and says oh no, and then repeatedly apologizes.  Repeatedly!  Or when the doctor says you are going to have to make some life changes.

The recommendations - change what you can in your environment and start allergy shots ASAP.

Enter our unexpected move.

You see, we live in an older rental house. But as you probably know, older houses have their issues.   Never good for a child who has severe allergies.

So we have been in a desperate search for a safer house.  No, she cannot live in a sterile environment.  But she can live someplace that is newer, has no history of problems and, quite honestly, is a smaller place for me to be able to keep as clean as possible.

It will be like starting over in a way.  Good Bye to many blankets, pillows, artificial plants- anything that can harbor dust mites and dust.  Hello to daily vacuuming and dusting, allergen resistant mattress and pillow covers and face masks. (her, not us- and only when grinding wheat or cleaning!)

It is mind boggling and overwhelming at times.  Yes, we move often, but I will admit we have been spoiled in doing so.  When I say we move, I mean a company comes and packs us up and moves our stuff.  This time we are on our own.  Pray for my husband.  Haha! Please pray for us as we move everything down the road while reevaluating what it is safe for us to keep and what is not and while we downsize yet again.

I also ask that you pray for us and especially our sweet daughter.  The good news is this diagnosis did not introduce new "stuff," just new labels.  We want to use those labels to help her, not to identify her.

Hopefully you will not notice a change in our posting this week and next, but if you do, just shake your head and repeat after me -

 An unexpected move! ;)

Blessings,