sharing some great sites and blogs. Enjoy!

I have had a bit of free time, and thanks to some amazing friends, now have access to wifi high speed internet on my desktop. (The desktop being the primary computer I actually use, lol) I have had the opportunity to be able to search blogs and some fun and informative sites lately. I just wanted to share a few of my favorites. :o) I hope you enjoy them as much as I have.

24 CLEVER IDEAS TO MAKE LIFE EASIER

    http://jugglingwithchainsaws.com/2011/12/30/24-clever-ideas-to-make-life-easier/

Just from my own experience I have found a few things that have helped me in my everyday life.

I like to freeze chicken broth in ice cube trays so that I can add them to rice or noodles to add flavor.

We save the plastic trays from chocolate covered cherries. They make a great mold for homemade pb cups or nut clusters!

We use plain white stickers to bind our cables and cords. This keeps them tidy and gives us a place to label the cords so we know what ones go to what.

To organize toys I bought the plastic drawer units. We labeled the front of each drawer using printable stickers. We also use stackable crates to store games and large toys on. Placing the units in the closets gives us free space in our room and hides them from company. It also keeps the toys easily accessible and neat. The boys have quite a few nerf guns and blow pipes. I bought a clothing hamper and stand them up in that. It makes it easier for the boys to chose what they want to play with and keeps them from falling all over the place.

In the fridge we tend to have pop bottles and water bottles all the time. They tend to easily tip over. I put a tray in the fridge and place them on that. This keeps them from tipping over. (We have the wire grates as shelves in our fridge.)

To keep the Tupperware cupboard neat I only buy stackable containers. I then put all the lids in a plastic clear shoebox (you can buy one at the dollar store). This makes the lids easily found and at your fingertips when needed.

I’m sure there are many other things we do around our place but I will not bore you anymore.

So You’re Thinking About Giving Up Your Pet? You Might Want to Reconsider.

    http://makeadifferencerescue.wordpress.com/2011/04/13/so-youre-thinking-about-giving-up-your-pet-you-might-want-to-reconsider/

 

Everyone I know knows that I am not a big animal person. That being said, even though I am not really fond of them I don't hate them either. I think killing an animal unnecessarily is uncalled for and should be avoided. They are one of God's amazing creatures. They deserve to live. I just think that people who took the time to pick out an animal, buy it food and bedding, and have taken them to the vet to make sure they are healthy have made an unspoken commitment to taking care of that animal. That animal is now dependent on you. You have made it so. Stand up and make sure you take care of that animal then. It's not the animals fault you change life situations. If you find you cannot keep the animal for certain reasons, find it a new home. NOT A SHELTER. Most certainly DO NOT just let it roam free. This animal you are trying to “set free” has been dependent on humans to care for it. It is not used to the world and will surely be eaten or starved all just because you changed your mind. Don’t do that to the animal. It’s cruel. Ok, off my soap box for now. Thanks for listening. :o)

Being Retarded

http://phoebeholmes.com/2011/12/23/being-retarded/

 

I have an older brother who is clinically diagnosed as Mentally Retarded. I do not honestly believe he is retarded but rather  somewhere along the autism spectrum. That being said, I feel that those who are retarded are due more respect then we give them. They are smart, wonderful people who have such a warm heart, and a bright smile. They certainly are a true gift from God.  They are innocent for the most part. They have not grown up to become the way society feels they should be. They are who they are, not who others think they should be.

I sometimes am very guilty of using the word “retarded” casually and off-handedly towards others that I am close to but I never do it in anger or frustration, nor do I do it to those I do not know. I usually use it as a joke and a playful put down (usually referring to myself). May I first say I am sorry to those who are offended by my attitude. I do feel that I am wrong for using that word so casually but I also think too many people put more meaning on the word itself and get offended way too easily. My son has Asperger’s Syndrome. So does my hubby. My other son has Moebius Syndrome. My brother has Mental Retardation and I have other siblings that are “slow”. My parents were both “slow”. I have grown up around people with disabilities all my life. I babysat a child with Downs Syndrome for most of my high school years. She was a pure delight. I am not without sympathy or empathy just because I use the words in ways you may not like. If I see that I have offended anyone I will willingly apologize and correct me attitude. Please do not take offense to it as it is not said with maliciousness or to berate anyone. It is not said with uncaring or being flippant. It is just said.

Ok, this is my FAVORITE site that I have come across recently. 

http://playathomemom3.blogspot.com/

She also has a facebook page located here:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Play-at-Home-Mom/174614952594331

 

Now, some of these ideas I have seen, and used, before. Some of them are absolutely wonderful! I really wish I had this site when my children were younger. It would have made their difficulties that much easier to deal with and would have made homeschooling so much more fun. I have spent so much time (that could probably have been spent doing something more useful, lol) looking at this site.

Ok, well, that is it for now. I hope you find these sites helpful and fun to look at. I know I did. :o)

WOW! So many amazing things to talk about tonight. Right now, due to wanting to get to bed soon I will only talk about two things.

First thing I must praise the Lord Almighty for helping guide me to something that is actually helping me out of this depression rut I was in. For the last month or a bit more I have been taking St. John's Wort. I must tell you, IT IS AMAZING STUFF!!!

I'm not sure what it does in the body but I do know that it has changed my life. I have not felt emotionally better in the last 10 so years. I feel more like myself and am interested in doing things I haven't found energy or desire to do in so long.... I am back into braiding my hair and painting my nails. I feel more like visiting with friends and talking to people. I feel more social. I feel physically better, not so tired, not so sore. I also know that now I am spiritually I am better. The desire to pray, read Scriptures and memorize the Word has increased a lot! all because of taking one pill!!! That is it! Ok, so it's really 4 pills but it is the same pill so I can honestly say it is one (type of) pill. lol I take two in the am and two in the pm. I am no longer on ANY depression meds. Yup, you read that right, NO DEPRESSION meds at all!!!! I am literally blown away by the difference in me. :o)

THANK YOU JESUS!

On the next note I want to thank Mathew Gerwitz for his continued wonderful performances as worship leader for Worship Jam night. Tonight's worship Jam was wonderful!! If you live in the Rochester area I HIGHLY recommend you come some day. You will be blessed!  Each and every month the Lord works on someone, if not everyone who joins us there. today it was me He was working on. I'm not sure about anyone else but I know I have an issue with pride. Yup, PRIDE.
When I was teaching Sunday school to the little ones we had a lesson on Jonah's pride getting in the way of him forgiving the Ninevites. I was trying to find a way to teach what pride is really all about. God showed me this acronym. Personal Reflection Is Deemed Excepterional. Well, all day I have been reminded of that acronym. During my driving around I was listening to the radio. I heard "My Own Little World" by Mathew West. I have recently been faced with seeing myself as the person this song is talking about. I tend to shut out the bad in the world because it is hard to deal with. It is hard to think that people will do horrible things to other people, even though I have been the "victim" of such horribleness. I find the daily news broadcasts depressing and even angring at times. I have said I no longer wath it because it is depressing. Well, truth be told, I hate seeing all the sin this world is doing. Hiding from it is not making it go away or stopping it in any stretch of hte imagination. It is only hindering me from learning the lessons God wants me to learn. I do not live in a world of only me. I live in the world as God made it, even thought we do not treat it is as so. I need to watch the news more often so I can pray for the country, the leanders and the other countries and their leaders. 

We tend to try to live in our own little worlds and as a result we forget that those out there in the world around us need our prayers and our help. We can only do that if we pay attention and care. 

I will leave you with a note of encouragement. Pray for those around and you and thank Jesus for the ability to do so. He uses each one of us where ever we are in life, whether we realize it or not. Wake up and start focusing on what can you do for Him? What can you do to further the cause of spreading His word and shining Hi light? I plan to try to be better at letting Him use me to the fullest. I pray you do also.

depression sucks rocks!

Supplements - hokum, right? vitamins - just a way for companies to make money on the niavity of the citizens. With all my medical issues taking vitamins and supplements won't help me much. I need to take prescriptions, right? Going off my meds is scary. How will I think and behave? I will become a basket case. I guess I am at the mercy of the doctors and pharmaceutical companies. UGH!!!!! Life is hard enough with out all these thoughts running through my head.

Ok, so where am I going with all this? Well, let me start from the beginning.  About 15 years ago I started having pains that were eventually found to be endometriosis. After 5 years of arguing with the insurance company I had  full hysterectomy. I thought that would be start of a pain free life. Little did I know then that it was only the start of a very, very long depressing road. After the surgery, I was diagnosed with a thyroid problem and depression along with being forced (due to the surgery) into menopause. All at the early age of 30. It was as if someone took my life and tossed it out the window. I was pain free for the most part but my whole personality changed. I was no longer the carefree loving life type of person. I hated what I had become. I tried to do the same things and live my life as "normal" as I could but I didn't have the heart for it anymore.

I have tried medicine after medicine. they have had one bad side effect after another, some of them particularly bad and uncontrollable. The meds were making me feel emotionally better, not great, just better. They were also controlling my life, ruining it day by day. I have two kids whom I homeschooled for many years before putting them into public school. (I eventually pulled them both out and am now homeschooling them again.) I couldn't take care of them they way I wanted to, the way I felt God wanted me to. I just didn't have the heart for life, being a mom, being a wife. Most days people had no idea how bad I felt because I tried to hide it but those who knew me best knew I was different.

I also have fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome which causes a great deal of pain and tiredness. Along with the depression life pretty much sucked a lot. Now, don't think I was so bad that I wished to end my life. Praise the Lord that it never actually came to that. Even though I was depressed I was not suicidal thankfully!

Ok, so why am I telling you all of this??? It seems pretty dumb to tell my life story to those I do not really know. Why am I putting my medical issues on line for you to read? Is it becuase I want your sympathies? Oh heavens NO!!! I do not want your pity nor am I seeking attention. I am just simply sharing some amazing things with you that have happened to my lately.

Well, frankly that is the way life USED to be until a couple of days ago. I say used to be like becauase as of the last 4 or so days I have a new outlook on life and an whole new way of thinking and feeling. Praise the Lord!!! He is AMAZING!!!

St John's Wort is my new best friend! lol Ok, not my best friend but pretty close to it!

I started on a new medicine a while back that gave me some nasty shaking all day long! It drove me nuts. On top of that the doctor in all her college smartness thought that increasing the dose would actually help calm the shaking and make me feel better. Well, that didn't happen! lol (I actually love my doctor, she's really cool.)
I was really sick of all the side effects I would get taking all these stupid medications the doctors were prescribing to me. I had to do something!

Mike, my wonderfully, amazing husband, (and other people I know) have been talking to me over the years about trying vitamins. I have tried some but with a lot of skepticism. This time I thought I would try it again. Mike has been asking me to try St. John's Wort. So after all the shaking I have been doing I gave it a try. Not thinking anything would work I thought I was at the mercy of the medications; like it or not. What could it hurt to at least try the supplement? I had nothing to loose except the shaking, right I was getting desperate. I had to stop shaking! It was interfering with my daily life. So, I tried the suplement.

WOW!!!!! It works amazingly well!!!! I have read research on it and everything I see says that it takes up to 6 or so weeks for St. John's Wort to take full effect, though in just 2 days I felt so much better!!!!!! ONLY 2 DAYS!!!

It has been 3 or 4 days now and I have not taken any of my prescription medicines. I am not taking my depression med, my thyroid med nor my estrogen for menopause but I am not having any effects that would seem to happen if I miss a dose of my medicine. (I always get the withdrawal feelings if I miss a dose or two.)
I have not felt this great in so long. Over the last 10 or so years I have had a lot of trial and error with medications and supplements alike. I have NEVER had such a wonderful response to any of these until now.

I am not so naive that I might start to think that this little pill is the answer to all my depression problems. I am not holding onto the medication as a safety met or a cure all for my issues. I am smart enough to know that God is more powerful then anything we can imagine!!!! I am relying on God to help me through all of these though. God is bigger then any medicine man can come up with or find. God can and does use things to wake us up and help us through our issues. We have to have faith in Him to do so. He will if we seek Him and just ask. I am proof of that.

So, in all your tough moments in life remember that God is bigger then any of them and rely on Him. He is always there for you just waiting for you to seek Him and lean on Him. Sometimes He uses the little things here on Earth to help us out in our time of need.

As I told a friend at church this morning I am feel like I am waiting for the shoe to drop and to start feeling depressed again. She told me in all her wonderful joyfulness that the shoe won't drop because God is holding it so it won't. lol

I may become depressed again and if I do that is ok. I will deal with it when that happens. If it doesn't and I pray it won't, I know God will always be there for me to lean on. I know God deserves all the glory for how I feel. Praise His Holy Name! 

so life hands us more lessons

Ok, I find this really funny in an ironic sort of way. God certainly does have a way of using things in our lives to teach us things and also using things to remind us of His love.
After I wrote the post yesterday I went to church this morning. The service was amazing as usual, but it seemed familiar to me after writing last night's post. Today's teaching was about the second half of Romans 8. Matt, our pastor, used this part of Scriptures to remind us that in order for God to work in our lives we have to do a few things ourselves. First we need to ask Him for guidance. Second;y, we need to look for open doors and opportunities that He has provided for us. Matt's example was if you are looking for a job and putting in applications then Wendy's calls you TAKE THE JOB! Yes it may not be the highest paying job out there. It may not even cover all your bills and provide for your family however, it is income while you continue to search out better employment. By not taking the job offer you are closing the window that God has opened up for you. This made me think of my comment last night in my post that God has given me opportunities to make me feel better. He has kept me busy with little things that have been distracting me from being depressed.

All Pastor Matt's teachings are on line and downloadable from the church's website. 

I hope that any and all the online teachings at www.1wayjesus.org are helpful to you. I know they are to me.

I'll write more soon if I can. :o) Until then God Bless!!!

wow it's been ages

Hi people! Ok, so it really has been ages since I have blogged. tonight I'm not really up to it but I feel like I should, so here I am.
Things lately have been sort of strange on my end. Even though I may seem fine, physically, I am most assuredly not fine emotionally. Most every one who knows me knows I have depression due to a chemical imbalance. It is not fun, nor easy to deal with. I have had to switch medications numerous times because I am sensitive to the side effects or the meds just don't work for me. You can just imagine how frustrating this can be for me and my doctors. lol I guess the most frustrating part of all this is tryint to trust in the Lord.

Some days it is easy to trust Him. Some days I seem to have an overabundance amount of trust for my Saviour. Other days I wonder how things will get better and what I did to deserve having this issue. Some days I hate my life and I hate being depressed and I hate God for allowing me to become depressed. But no matter what kind of day I find myself having I know that God, the Creator of the universe, loves me enough to die for my sins so that I can spend eternity with Him. Now that is an enormous amount of love. Even on my worst days that alone helps pull me through.

I don't mention any of this to get people to pity me or feel bad for me. I mention it to get people a reality check. Life is hard but God is there for each one of us no matter if we ask Him to be or not.

Life with depression is not easy. It makes it difficult to be a wife, to be a mom, to be a homeschooling teacher, to be of use to the Lord. When I was little I watched my mom go through stages of depression and manic episodes. She was in the hospital quite a lot. I remember visiting her in the hospital while she was under psychiatric care. They, the docs, diagnosed her as a manic-depressive, today that is referred to as being bi-polar. Let me tell you, it's not easy to live with. One moment she was in the best mood, the next she was beating the daylights out of us, her children - literally beating us. She could be laughing and playing with us in the morning and by lunch time she would be full of anger and hate. She cried a lot at night. I never really knew why. Now I do. For some reason, maybe because she didn't take her meds the way she was supposed to - I don't know, her moods never seemed to stabilize until all her kids were in foster care. Even then her moods didn't stay normal. She suffered quite a lot while she was alive. I regret how things were with my mother while I was a kid. Maybe being able to go through some of what she went through with depression was the only way I would understand and sympathize with her. I don't know. Whatever reason I have depression now & the fact is it is not going away by itself. It's here. I have to deal with it.

I guess you might be wondering why I am writing this? Well, for a very particular reason. (Which is more for me then for you actually. lol) Life is hard for everyone. Not only me. Not only you. It is not going to get better by sitting on our tush and doing nothing about it. One cannot wish things better without actually doing something to improve their situation. Like tonight, I am depressed, I have been all day. I have been for days now. I have fought tears all day. But what do I do? I refuse to sit around and cry. I was able to be blessed by a wonderful friend who came over today and colored my hair for me. I was able to see another friend who stopped by also. Having people around, even though I did not feel like actually have anyone here, helped me feel better. Tonight, instead of crying I got out my hair accessories and braided my hair. Doing so made me feel better about myself and brightened up my spirits. Even though it did not take away the depression it did make it easier to deal with.

So you see, life is hard, but you don't have to sit around and let it be. Prayer is always the answer!!! I have prayed all day that I would feel better. I have prayed all day that God would help me through the day. God has given me the desire to do something about my situation and not sit around moping. Do I still feel depressed? Yes. Do I still want to cry for no reason? Yes. Am I crying? No. Why? What will that help? It won't. Now I'm not saying that if I cried that would be a bad things either. If I cried that would be ok but it's not helping me feel any better, now is it? No. God has given me a huge desire not to sit idly by and watch my life pass me. God has given me a huge desire to be happy even when the chemicals in my body make the very difficult to do so. When life seems to be falling around me and life seems to be bringing me down, the only place to look is up. Looking up brings me to look at my Saviour. If He could have endured what He did here on Earth, the beatings, the ridicule the mocking, having His Father - part of himself - look away from him, then I can deal with a little sadness.

On your worst days try to remember that others out there are worse off then you. Try to to remember that you can always chose how to proceed with your life. Will you chose to sit and wallow in self pity? Will you allow your feelings to control your life? I personally refuse to do that. I pray you do also. Only God has been my strength and I know from experience that ONLY God can ever be my strength. I have leaned on others and other things before to help me through my difficult times. All have failed to help but God has never failed, nor will He ever fail. So, on you worst days, lean on Him for He will hold you up.

Whatever you do, please do not feel sorry for me having depression. It is what it is. Let's move on. I'm trying to.  :o)

this has been an amazing week...

Despite being sick right now I am praising God's Holy Name. He is amazing, comforting, reassuring, loving, caring, forgiving, unchangeable, unstoppable, and He loves me enough to still save my soul so I can spend eternity with Him! I don't know if you understand the depth of His love, I know I don't despite being a Christian for many years.

an offensive picture posted on facebook.... please read....

Today's blog is in regards to a picture or a sign that someone posted on their page on facebook. another friend asked me what i thought about it. Here is my response. I hope you like it too!

Not to offend people but to give you a clearer picture as to why I wrote what I did.

The picture that was posted said:

"Religion is like a penis. 

It's fine if you have one.
It's fine to be proud of it.
But please don't whip it out in pub;lic and start waving it around.
And PLEASE don't try to shove it down my children's throats."



First I immediately removed it from my page as I was not impressed, or humored, by it at all. I didn't even read it until a moment ago. Still I am not impressed. However that is the way the world thinks. We are not alone in our feelings but we are so out numbered. I hold out on God and lean only on Him, or at least I try daily to do so.

I have come to a place in my life where I have accepted that I am different then most in regards to my faith. I also know that the Bible says wide is the road that leads to destruction. Seeing as to how I, we as Christians, are different in our faith and most are on the wide road why do we expect those around us to not act, talk and think unGodly?

I have come to a place in my life that I have realized that there is nothing, but prayer, that I can do to change others thoughts and feelings or actions. All I can do is live my life to the best I can that glorifies our Lord and Saviour. After all, that is what we are called to do, to bring Him glory....

A light cannot shine bright in a well lit room however, as we all know a candle sheds a bright light in a darkened room. We are the candles ladies, let's shine as bright as we can! My advice is to just don't let it bother you so much, stand firm for Christ and He will uplift you!

(Just fyi: my hubby said - after I read him the poster and your message - that what do we expect from an unsaved world? Even the Bible says a dog will go back to their vomit and pigs go back to the mire... He also said that what bothered him that Christians are not "allowed" to whip out their faith in public but those that are fanatics about sports can wear the team's colors, logos, jerseys etc... and expect others to be ok with it.)

Christians always get the raw end of the deal as we are truly the only light on Earth that shines for Christ. ust a sun hurts your eyes when you wake up to it shining in your face, so does our light to hurt those that are the unsaved.) Mike also says (I gotta love my hubby as he sure has a way with words!!!) that we are the salt of the Earth. Salt is a great preservative and adds wonderful flavor to foods but when you get salt in a cut it hurts like the dickens!!! You can't deny that salt can be painful to open wounds.... just as our faith can hurt and convict those that are unsaved.f the salt didn't hurt then is it really salt? If we are not standing out because of our faith how strong is our faith then? It should stand out and be strong.... We should be different then the unsaved.... It is what we are called to be. :o)

Where does one go when they need to keep a meat well preserved for later? People ask for salt. Where does one go, saved or not, when they need uplifting or prayer? They come to us, God's salt of the Earth.

Love ya Holly!!!!! Love ya Karen!!!! You two are actually my favorite facebook friends as I can always be uplifted up by your posts. :o)

Sorry this is so long! lol

Anti-Bullying

Many of you know that a 14 year old boy by the name of Jamey recently killed himself. He was bi. He was tormented online by other teens and at school by classmates.This link below is the news story about Jamey's passing. Please feel free to read it.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/jamey-rodemeyer-suicide-ny-police-open-criminal-investigation/story?id=14580832

I'm in no way, shape or form stating I agree with Jamey's sexual orientation, I don't. No matter what his sexual preference was he did not have to die. In my opinion, this could have easily been prevented.

Many of you already know that my son Adam w severely bullied in public school, partly for being gay (WHICH HE IS NOT) and for being autistic (high functioning). As a result of this bullying we removed our child from the high school he was attending (9th grade) and are now finishing his education at home. He will not be going back to a school institution if I have any say about it, which I do. Mike and I have EVERY say about it. We have also chosen to continue our younger son's education at home also. This is partly due to his medical conditions and mostly due to how he was treated in public school also. (Daniel was out sick a lot in 6th grade because he was always throwing up on the way to, in and after arriving home, due to anxieties. As a result, unbeknownst to him he was being ridiculed and mocked behind his back when he was out sick. When Daniel entered 7th grade his stomach issue got much worse.) Sending any child to a place that is not condusice (physically or mentally) to uplift and support their well-being is not an option to me.

Public schools toot their horns of self-righteousness by using these anti-bullying posters, quotes and programs that they use. However, actions always speak louder then words. A picture of word a 1000 words. Anti-bullying quotes and posters do not stop anyone (adults or kids) fom bullying. Punishment does!

I'm not in agreement with Jamey's sexual preferences but that doesn't mean I would not have liked him if I personally met him. From listening to his youtube videos and reading the stories about him online I'm sure he was a sweet pleasant kid to be around. He should not have been bullied. I am not saying that people needed to (or should) condone his bi-sexual status or even act like they like it, but that being said they did not need to mock him and taunt him to kill himself either.

Please, keep in your prayers these kids that are being teased, mocked, harassed and bullied. Of course ray for salvation but also pray for strength from above to rise above their tormentors. Please please pray for those that bully others. This needs to stop and it needs to stop now!

Thank you.

so many things to blog about tonight. Part 2 :o)

ok, I was thinking on joining these two post tonight but thought better of it. It is nice to have the first one only about those that lost their lives on that dreadful day 10 years ago.

The things that have been going through my mind lately, that I want to blog about, are....

Fall. Summer is coming to a quick close and fall is nipping at our heels. How does this make you feel? It makes me feel sad and happy. Sad because 11 years ago I lost my father in law to cancer and my mother to many physical illnesses that she could no longer fight. I miss them both a lot. some days more then others. If you have lost a loved one you know how I feel. Fall reminds me that they are no longer here to spend the holidays with, to see my boys become teens, get a job, get married and such. They are no longer here to call or joke with or to be upset at. I cannot know for certain where another's heart is but I feel that they both got saved before death took them. That brings some peace and comfort. Only some...

That year we also lost Mike's grandmother 1-1-2000. Mike's dad on November 17, 2000, My mom December 13, 2000. It sure was a hard year for us. But through it all God has given us strength and comfort and power to overcome the sadness and loss. for that I am thankful!!!

Fall is also a time that brings to light that cold is on it's way. I hate being cold!!!! I mean I really REALLY hate the cold. It's not the snow that bugs me, nor the icky driving conditions. I can deal with all of tat. I just hate the cold itself. lol The days get shorter and the sun shines less brightly which makes the days seem gloomier. It is during those times that I rejoice in my quiet time with God.

Ok, so now what to talk about? hhhmmm.... hives! yup, hives, those red welts that spring up out of no where that itch and itch and itch. They make your skin look like it is sunburned in patches. Now, I personally have never had hives. THANKFULLY!!! Daniel did. Actually he had them for the first time about a week ago. It was so sudden and so bad that we took him to urgent care. Although the prednisone and allergy meds have kicked the hives butt we still have no idea what caused them. Daniel seems to have recently developed allergies. We know that Soy bothers him, now this. hhhmmmm. It makes me wonder why. As long as I figure out what he was allergic to I don't care why. I just don't want him to get hives again. lol

What else??? ADAM! Yes, Adam, my 16 year old son. Adam is an amazing kid, but I am little biased, just a little. lol Adam is coming into his own, as one might say. He is finding his own niche in life and becoming more (dare I say it?) responsible. I never thought I would say that about Adam. Adam has Asperger's Syndrome and at times can be very irresponsible and immature. Not so lately though. Adam has had a rough couple of years and has been introduced to some awful temptations. He has struggled, and still continue to struggle, with one particular temptation. He knows that it is wrong but as with any sin we might (and usually will) encounter it is very very tempting. We heard a teaching years ago that was about avoiding sin. Adam seems to have taken this to heart. His actions speak louder then any words ever could! The teaching basically said that when you see temptation coming your way you cross the street and avoid it as much as you can. (Ex. a gambler might have someone in charge of his money for a while so that he doesn't gamble it all away. Or a womanizer might avoid places that he would be primarily around women. a person with internet addictions would just get rid of (or pack away for a while) the computer.) You see, these examples all have one thing in common; they took steps to make sure they were help accountable for their actions and they found ways to prevent temptations. Adam has done that!!! On his own he has asked for help and suggested ways he can be held more accountable. He is taking action to avoid the temptation so he doesn't fall into sin.

Wait, did I say that right? Yes I did. The temptation is not the problem. Everyone will be tempted more times they they can count during their lifetime, some of us many more times than that! It is when we follow the temptations that is the problem. That is when we fall into sin. sin is an ugly thing covered in sweet decadence. It is enjoyable so we think well, this couldn't be so bad. I can do this just this once. No one will know. But God knows. You ever hear the saying don't feed a stray cat or you'll never get rid of it? Well, that is they way sin is. Once you fall into it doing it again is only easier. It is hard to stop once you gone that way before.

So I want to publicly say that I am very proud of my son asking God for help and asking those around him to also help him. He is showing restraint and spiritual growth. I am impressed and in awe of his actions.

I had other things on my mind but now they seem to have escaped me. I will say good night then and remind you to pray for the families that lost loved ones on that dreadful day 10 years ago.
God Bless.

so many things to blog about tonight. but one is most important :o)

First and foremost I see what the date it. It is 9-11-2011.
10 years ago in about 8 hours I was woken up by a phone call. My sister from AZ called me practically in hysterics telling me to turn on my TV. As I was still sleeping when she called, I was still groggy. Turning on the tv shocked me. It was devastating to say the least.

Now thinking about it it truly is more devastating then we actually think. I suspect a large number of those people were unsaved. Now they never have the opportunity to get saved again. They are in eternity suffering. It truly breaks my heart.....

I know some people say to pray for the souls that are lost, but I ask what does that actually do? The people are dead. Praying isn't going to help them anymore. I ask you to pray for the families of those that died that tragic day. Those families might either pull towards God looking for hope or hate God for letting it happen. Either way, salvation for them is paramount.

I say a somber prayer for those that mourn.

life lessons: so many blessings

hi. When I thought to write this blog today I wasn't sure what I wanted to write about, just that I really wanted to write. :o) That is usually the way my brain works. lol It's great on the spur of the moment.

Ok, so as I sit here I am reminded of how blessed we are. Yes, I mean my family but I also mean each one of us, including you, the reader. We take so much for granted that we don't even see all the wonderful things we have. Now, I'm an optimistic person by nature, or so I think I am. I like to think of what I have rather then what I do not have. Maybe that is from my childhood. I grew up dirt poor, I mean REALLY dirt poor until I was 7 years old. I then moved into a foster home in a upper-middle class neighborhood with what felt like wealthy people to care for me. This is where I was raised for the next 14 years and blessed with everything I needed to live comfortably. Then I grew up and I moved out. I moved into a small studio apartment with my new husband, Mike. Then we moved to a small (tiny) 2 bedroom that was literally falling apart and drafty as all get out. Finally we moved here, where we live now. We live in a comfortably sized 2 bedroom apartment in a nice small town. We have lived here for 14 years now. We love it here.

Over the course of my life I have been on both sides of the spectrum a couple of times, back and forth. Poor, well off, poor, well off.... back and forth... Now, even though Mike and I are not financially well off we are very content with what God has blessed us with.

We do not have cable, high speed internet nor call waiting and voice mail. We eat simple meals rather then steaks and chops or lobster and crabs. Mac & cheese, hamburger helper, hot dogs, and chicken are all staples in this house. These foods tend to fit in our price range and fill us up enough so that we are not going through tons of food. (They are also foods which we enjoy eating, sometimes a bit too much!) I don't have an expensive coat, purse or pair of shoes. I shop at Wal-Mart and Aldi's frequently. This saves money. We try to watch our budget and plan for upcoming events, such as doctor visits. When we get our tax return we set it aside, broken up into different categories for things, such as clothes, that we will need in the coming year. We very rarely go to the theaters for movies and we do not buy a lot of dvds but rather borrow them from the library or friends. We have only one car that gets Mike to and from work. I use it only when I need to to save gas $. So you see, we really have to careful we do not over spend. We pray before we do our budget, we do the budget together and we try to be good stewards with what God has bestowed upon us.

Where am I going with this? Well, I am showing you that even though life seems wonderful from the world's view, things aren't always wheat they seem. We are not rich and we do struggle in more then one way in our marriage and life in general. It's during these rough times that our true character shows. Where to we go to when we need help, guidance, comfort? When things are going well who do we thanks? When we feel blessed who do we give credit to? All these things are vitally important in being content.

When you wake up in the morning who do you thank for the breath you take? Can you put your feet on the floor and stand up? Can you comb your own hair? Can you read the cereal box as you eat your breakfast with your own two hands? Do you have fmaily or friends that call you or talk to you frequently? Whom do you thank for those friendships?

Bottom line: who is in control of your life? God? or yourself? Do you think that you have made all the things in your life possible? Are you blessed by your own hard work? or did God bless you? He gave you the air to breath and lungs to filter the CO2 out and O2 in. He gave you those hands to lift the spoon to your mouth and the phone to your ear. He gave you those feet to put into those nice shoes he provided the money for you to buy.

Everyday we take things for granted. We assume, expect, that there will be food in the cupboards, money to pay the bills, clothes to keep us warm. What if you woke up one day and found that you had nothing? I mean nothing... no house, no bed, no clothes, no food and worst of all no money to get any of those things? Would you still be happy? Would you still thank God for the air you breath? The ground you walk on and that ability to walk on that very same ground?

I would like to think I would seeing as how I have seen the good and the bad of being 'rich' and poor.... I'm not sure that I would be so thankful though. Once you live comfortably in a nice area you tend to get used to it and expect it to always just get better. But it doesn't always, does it?

All this is on my mind today as a result of a couple of things. One, our pastor's teachings lately have been on following God and living for Him, and what happens when you don't. I am also thinking of a Liberian family that left their homeland with nothing. the mother died not that long after coming to America and the father was blinded because of his faith in Christ our Lord. Refugees.... that is really what they are. They still have fmaily in Liberia. Their family has had many of the men killed in the civil wars, leaving many of the women and children husbandless and fatherless. Seeing how woman are generally thought of as lower class in many of these poor countries (I'm not sure about Liberia, this is my assumption) these poor women have to try to survive and take care of themselves and their children. These poor women are burdened with all the responsibilities of both parents in raising their children in a country that doesn't have much and the poor have the least of all. My thoughts run wild wiht questions like are the kids going to bed hungry? Do they have clothes that fit them? are thy going to school? Do they have the supplies they need to have a proper education?

Chance are these questions are answered most of the time wiht a no, they do not.... But here we sit, in front of our few hundred dollar computers, with our cell phones sitting on the desk next to us and a nice afternoon snack or yummy foods and a comforting beverage. In the other room we actually have a bed with a few blankets and a pillow instead of a blanket on the cold hard ground. We hear the television mumbling in the background instead of the moans of our hungry children....

This is a lot longer then I had planned. I do feel that we as Americans really need to stop and thank God for all that we are blessed wiht. It is not by our might, nor our power but by the power of the Almighty that has blessed us with such great things that surround us every minute of everyday. We need to stop moaning about not haviung the latest and greatest game system, ringtone, sneakers and hair styles. We NEED to start thanking God for our blessings. I hope you agree....

Next time you wish you had something you can't afford remember those children who have to search the garbage dumps for cardboard to sell just so they can eat something that day.... Be thankful to God for all your blessings. :o)

Wow! Still learning

Ok, so I am 38 years old. I will be 39 in November. This goes to prove you really never stop learning. If we stopped learning that would say that we know everything. Then we would be God. We are SOOOOO NOT God! Therefore we do not know everything. Therefore there is always room to learn. :o)

Ok, so what did  learn? I learned that you can't please people who obviously do not want to be pleased by you. I also learned that in order to have your heart right with God you have to be willing to put things behind you. If you are always looking behind you thinking of what u was then you can't very well watch what is in front of you. You miss out on tremendous blessings that way!

Today was rough. I was trying so hard to get things scanned, emailed, printed and snail mailed out today. My printer/scanner wasn't working as fast as I wanted it too. The documents were too large to email so I had to adapt them. Then I screwed up the address on the envelope and had to rewrite it.
After that was all completed I found out that someone I know fell into some serious temptation. They felt horribly guilty and needed some comfort and wisdom. Another friend come over in tears. I felt so bad for her. Teens are difficult to raise as it is, but her struggles today were like hitting a brick wall. (((hugs))) (you know who you are. luv ya!!!) After all that we finally were able to put our house back in order and get somethings cleaned up before heading out to McD's on our way to Worship Jam at church. I expected the worship jam to go smoothly and for me to end up feeling blessed as I always do there. Apparently that was too much to expect. lol Boy does our flesh get us into trouble!!!!

At Worship Jam I was blindsided by another parent regarding something very petty in my eyes. I was hurt and let those emotions get the best of me. When I gt hurt I get angry at who hurt me, especially if this person has done this before to me. This person has hurt me in the past and they certainly know they have so my anger was getting high. I let it get like that. I felt justified. I felt I had every right to let the world know this person was self-centered.

I asked to speak to a terrific sister in the Lord about the situation. If anyone could help refocus me on Christ it was this woman. She has an amazing way of seeing the world and helping others see it through God's eyes too. So I calmed down and enjoyed the songs. When we had a snack break during the worship jam someone said something to me, in a very playful way, that was a reminder of the whole situation I had just, or thought I had, gotten past. Well, you know your heart holds onto things a lot longer then it should because I was not over the situation. The hurt and the frustration all came back. It made me cry, more out of my inability to stop feeling so hurt then out of the situation itself. I  HAD to give it to Christ and leave it in His more then capable hands. That is much easier said then done though.

So now here I sit. I am thinking of the whole situation in a new light. In the light that my dear friend tried to show me when I was crying and fuming at church earlier. God's hands are stronger, larger, more gently, more protective then mine ever could be. I think he can take care of a few hurt feelings since He IS the one that created the universe with only a few small words.

After al this I see what a fool I was to let this person get under my skin. I see what a fool I was not trusting God to hold me close and love me despite what this other person thought. I see how God's loving hands are always there to help us through the struggles. I just need to start seeing myself leaning on those same loving and attentive hands.

a sense of accomplishment

Wow! Today has been filled with such a sense of accomplishment. First, I started off the day doing the work of the Lord. Our church is doing a help the community service week rather then a traditional VBS this week. I love it! It is a great way to instill within the youngsters the importance of helping others. Our two boys have not gone for the first two days this week but they will be going tomorrow and Thursday. On Friday I am not so sure that they will come. Friday it depends on if we have enough room in our vehicle to take and bring them home, as we are taken home two to four other teens. Now you may ask, and rightfully so, why would we make room for other teens instead of bringing our own children. Well, there is a multi-thought process that brought us to that decision. One, our teens are still recovering form a bug that has worn our family out a lot this summer. Two, Adam, with his Asperger's and his knee problems sometimes causes more of a fuss and tends to be overly lazy, which would bring stress on others that are there to work. three, A lot of today and yesterday was getting up and down and going up and down stairs. With Adam's knees, which have a tendency to give out on him we thought it best not to bother bringing him. Not bringing Adam means (rather then listen to the attitude) not bringing Daniel. Besides Daniel is the one who has felt physically unwell more often then his big brother, so this gives him more time to recover. Fourth and final reason is that on Friday we will be taking more kids home afterward leaving a limited number of usable seats in our van. Since Adam seems to be more melodramatic over things and lazier then the average teen (ok maybe not) we thought it best to all ow room for those teens that actually will put their best foot forward and help out as much as needed, which I do not think Adam will be willing to do. So, you see we have truly thought this through. lol

Our comminuty helping week satrted yesterday, so we weeded the church's yard and helps beautify the place a bit. We also cleaned up the inside of the church area. Afterward, on our way home Mike and I were able to tackle a few errands before heading home. Anyhow, at church this morning we organized the clothing closet and prepared it for public access, not that it wasn't ready before but now we just made it more ready. lol Although we did not complete the job we will did accomplish way more then I thought we would! We still have a few things left to do with the clothing closet but that will be worked on and finished on Friday. After church today, Mike and I were able to visit with a friend of ours for a brief time before heading home. Mike took Daniel out to have father son time and Adam had his friend, Josiah, over. I love Josiah!!! He is a terrific teen, sweet respectful, appreciative and a wonderful godly young man.Daniel then came home and the boys played all afternoon. When Josiah was here I took the boys to the pool and swam with them for a while. They trulky are crazy teen boys that is for sure! lol While I was in the pool I decided to see how long I could tread water for. The first time I tread for 12 - 13 minutes. I was amazed!!!! The second try I could have done more but stopped after 5 minutes. It was a wonderful day!

I think over the last two days we have accomplished a lot of things, both in and out of the house. We did the laundry, made some important phone calls, fixed some computer issues, bought a new blender (which I so badly wanted) and generally got a lot of little things done....

When I get a lot done like the last two days have been like it makes me think about how God must feel at what He has made. I know He is happy in some of him flock but not all. I just pray that I am one of those that has made Him happy. when I pass on I can't wait to hear well done, good and faithful servant!!!
so what ever you are doing this week, do the best you can at it and second, do it for the Lord, not for yourself or other people. Doing it for the Lord brings a greater amount of joy with it then you would ever get waiting for it. Doing things for yourself (glorifying your abilities) brings with it dissatisfaction and sometimes brings with it disappointed.
I pray thta no matter what I do with my life I do it for God and only to gloify Him!

76 out of 100

 

Ok, so I came across this tonight as I was browsing walls on facebook. I thought 'Wow! This is really interesting.' So I copied, adapted and then pasted it here.

Please feel free to copy and repost where-ever you like. I have marked wiht an 'X' what I remember from my childhood. Please when you repost, delete my X's and mark with an 'X' the ones you remember from your childhood. 

thanks, Trisha

Audio-Visual Entertainment

[X ]  Inserting a VHS tape into a VCR to watch a movie or to record something.

[    ]  Super-8 movies and cine film of all kinds.

[X ] Playing music on an audio tape using a personal stereo.

[X ]  The number of TV channels being a single digit. I remember it being a massive event when Britain got its fourth channel.

[X ]  Standard-definition, CRT TVs filling up half your living room.

[X ]  Rotary dial televisions with no remote control. You know, the ones where the kids were the remote control.

[X ]  High-speed dubbing.

[    ]  8-track cartridges.

[X ]  Vinyl records. Even today’s DJs are going laptop or CD.

[    ]  Betamax tapes.

[X ]  MiniDisc.

[    ]  Laserdisc: the LP of DVD.

[X ]  Scanning the radio dial and hearing static between stations.

[X ]  Shortwave radio.

[X ]  3-D movies meaning red-and-green glasses.

[X ]  Watching TV when the networks say you should. Tivo and Sky+ are slowing killing this one.

[X ]  That there was a time before ‘reality TV.’

Computers and Videogaming

[X ]  Wires. OK, so they’re not gone yet, but it won’t be long.

[X ]  The scream of a modem connecting.

[X ]  The buzz of a dot-matrix printer.

[X ]  5- and 3-inch floppies, Zip Discs and countless other forms of data storage.

[    ]  Using jumpers to set IRQs.

[X ]  DOS.

[X ]  Terminals accessing the mainframe.

[X ]  Screens being just green (or orange) on black.

[    ]  Tweaking the volume setting on your tape deck to get a computer game to load, and waiting ages for it to actually do it.

[    ]  Daisy chaining your SCSI devices and making sure they’ve all got a different ID.

[    ]  Counting in kilobytes.

[X ]  Wondering if you can afford to buy a RAM upgrade.

[X ]   Blowing the dust out of a NES cartridge in the hopes that it’ll load this time.

[    ]  Turning a PlayStation on its end to try and get a game to load.

[X ]  Joysticks.

[    ]  Having to delete something to make room on your hard drive.

[X ]  Booting your computer off of a floppy disk.

[[X ]  Recording a song in a studio.

The Internet

[    ]  NCSA Mosaic.

[X ]  Finding out information from an encyclopedia.

[X ]  Using a road atlas to get from A to B.

[X ]  Doing bank business only when the bank is open.

[    ]  Shopping only during the day, Monday to Saturday.

[X ]  Phone books and Yellow Pages.

[X ]  Newspapers and magazines made from dead trees.

[    ]  Actually being able to get a domain name consisting of real words.

[X ]  Filling out an order form by hand, putting it in an envelope and posting it.

[X ]  Not knowing exactly what all of your friends are doing and thinking at every moment.

[X ]  Carrying on a correspondence with real letters, especially the handwritten kind.

[    ]  Archie searches.

[    ]  Gopher searches.

[    ]  Concatenating and UUDecoding binaries from Usenet.

[X ]  Privacy.

[X ]  The fact that words generally don’t have num8er5 in them.

[X ]  Correct spelling of phrases, rather than TLAs.

[X ]  Waiting several minutes (or even hours!) to download something.

[    ]  The time before botnets/security vulnerabilities due to always-on and always-connected PCs.

[X ]  The time before PC networks.

[X ]  When Spam was just a meat product — or even a Monty Python sketch.

Gadgets

[X ]  Typewriters.

[X ]  Putting film in your camera: 35mm may have some life still, but what about APS or disk?

[X ]  Sending that film away to be processed.

[X ]  Having physical prints of photographs come back to you.

[X ]  CB radios.

[X ]  Getting lost. With GPS coming to more and more phones, your location is only a click away.

[X ]  Rotary-dial telephones.

[X ]  Answering machines.

[X ]  Using a stick to point at information on a wallchart.

[X ]  Pay phones.

[    ]  Phones with actual bells in them.

[X ]  Fax machines.

[X ]  Vacuum cleaners with bags in them.

Everything Else

[X ]  Taking turns picking a radio station, or selecting a tape, for everyone to listen to during a long drive.

[X ]  Remembering someone’s phone number.

[X ]  Not knowing who was calling you on the phone.

[X ]  Actually going down to a Blockbuster store to rent a movie.

[X ]  Toys actually being suitable for the under-3s.

[X ]  LEGO just being square blocks of various sizes, with the odd wheel, window or door.

[X ]  Waiting for the television-network premiere to watch a movie after its run at the theater.

[X ]  Relying on the 5-minute sport segment on the nightly news for baseball highlights.

[X ]  Neat handwriting.

[X ]  The days before the nanny state.

[X ]  Starbuck being a man.

[X ]  Han shoots first.

[X ]  “Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father.” But they’ve already seen Episode III, so it’s no big surprise.

[X ]  Kentucky Fried Chicken, as opposed to KFC.

[    ]  Trig tables and log tables.

[X ]  “Don’t know what a slide rule is for …”

[X ]  Finding books in a card catalog at the library.

[X ]  Swimming pools with diving boards.

[    ]  Hershey bars in silver wrappers.

[    ]  Sliding the paper outer wrapper off a Kit-Kat, placing it on the palm of your hand and clapping to make it bang loudly. Then sliding your finger down the silver foil to break off the first finger.

[    ]  A Marathon bar (what a Snickers used to be called in Britain).

[X ]  Having to manually unlock a car door.

[X ]  Writing a check.

[X ]  Looking out the window during a long drive.

[X ]  Roller skates, as opposed to blades.

[X ]  Cash.

[X ]  Libraries as a place to get books rather than a place to use the internet.

[X ]  Spending your entire allowance at the arcade in the mall.

[    ]  Omni Magazine.

[X ]  A physical dictionary — either for spelling or definitions.

      [X ]  When a ‘geek’ and a ‘nerd’ were one and the same. 

ok. ok. ok... now I feel so outdated!!!! Even though I am only 38 right now I feel like this shows I m in my 60's!!! lmbo!!! It was fun though. Enjoy! I got a 76 out 100. Holy cow I feel old!!!

Extreme Couponing....

Ok, so I tried this Extreme Couponing thing everyone is getting gung ho about. My first initial thought was I don't think I can do this but I can try it and see how it works out. If it works, great, if not, no biggie… Well, with some guidance from a neighbor and from facebook friends I started collecting my coupons. I bought the Sunday papers to get the weekly coupons; I made sure I received all the local grocery store and drug store weekly ads. I ‘liked’ practcally everything on facebook. I bought a binder and organized it well. lol So, you see I did really invest time into this. If it worked out well and I saved some money it would be worth it to me. Well, was it really worth it? To me, well no.

Let me tell you why though. I am not one that has a lot of free time as it is. I hate to sit still for too long and if it is not really important to my family and I, I won't usually do it. Yes, the couponing would benefit my family and myself but the benefits did not outweight the inconvience it created. What were the benefits and what were the inconviences you might ask? Well, I will break it down to the best of my ability.

Pros: (Benefits) 

Saving money
Getting product we might not usually get
Many local stores take Internet coupons

Cons: (Inconviences)

Time consuming (for me this is a huge con!):
                  Searching for the coupons online
                  Looking through papers and ads, clipping coupons
                  Time used to travel to multiple stores

Costly to start, as you have to build your coupon base (as you have to buy some of the papers to get the coupons).

Boring, for me at least

Ok, so now you see the pros and the cons. Why are the cons such a problem for me? Well, to put it simply, I value my time. I value it more then just saving money. My time to me is time with my family, time praising and worship my God. Time reading and learning, time cleaning and making my home a stress free environment for my hubby to come home to and for my kids to live in. Bottom-lining it, my time is being sucked away by this extreme couponing and I hate that! My hubby is not to thrilled with it either. My oldest son even commented on how much time it takes and he hates that I am so wrapped up in it. In reality I’m sure it would take less time as I get used to doing it but I would rather not keep doing it.
Pretty soon my time will be even sparser due to searching for and then teaching my kids curriculum. I do homeschool them and that is one of my biggest responsibilities. I also have othe projects I want to work on. I wish to go through all my pics on the computer and organize them. I wish to scrapbook quite a bit as I have lots of ideas but little time and even less energy to do so. I wish to work on other things as well. I will also be babysitting come September and that is one thing I am looking forward to doing. I do not want couponing to cut into that time either.
Most of you know that I have fibromyalgia and this brings with it pain and fatigue. Now, with my medicines I am fairly ok most days but the fatigue is a hard thing to manage sometimes. The pain I have gotten used to out of necessity. The time and energy I have I want to use to the fullest to benefit my family and flourish our relationships with God and each other. I do not want to spend that time and energy clipping and searching for coupons. I do not want to spend that time running from store to store to get the sale items.

Ok, so the pros sound so good, right? Well, it really depends on your perspecitve I guess. Yes, saving money is a nice thing to do, but at what expense? In my house it seemed to be at the expense of family time. So not worth it in my book!!! Trying new things is also a nice thing. I am finding out though many generic items are of equal quality to the name brand, at least in our opinion, and can be cheaper then the name brand even with a coupon. Internet coupons are a huge plus but for us it is not that easy to get. You see, we have dial up and that makes the Internet slow. Why do we have dial up? For a number of reasons, price being first and foremost, but safety racks right up there too. I am picky about what my kids do, see, listen to and hang around. That means I know what they play with, toys wise and games wise. I know what music they listen to and I know what they read. I know all my kids’ friends and their families. Yes, my kids are teens and I may not "need" to because they are growing up. But that is exactly why I do it, why I am so watchful of my family. There are so many things out there that can tempt young minds away from God, our personal Saviour and the King of kings. The boys are still finding their place in the world and their relationship with Christ is still developing. I do not want things to lead them away from that growth. Keeping the interent at bay keeps the temptations at bay too. Having a fast Internet would be nice to play games and such but it's not worth risking our kids’ spiritual stability, at least in our (my hubby and mine) eyes.
Now, having the stores accept Internet coupons is wonderful also but not all our local stores take these Internet coupons due to fraudulent use of them. The stores actually can lose lots of money on accepting coupons that they may not be reimbursed for. They also lose on the money that was doubled (or in some cases tripled) on those same unreimbursed coupons. Therefore it is not as easy as some might think in using these great coupons that you can print out at home. 

When I shop I want to get in the store, get my stuff and get out. Yes, I do love window shipping and I do not mind and taking my time while shopping. My issue is I rarely have the time to take my time, if you know what I mean. I'm usually on a tight time schedule. I can't take the time to do multiple transactions at the same store just to use my coupons. I also cannot take the time to go to multiple stores. I alos tend to have one or more kids with me, which brings distractions causing me to forget certain items or using certain coupons. That defeats the purpose of couponing… lol
I don't want to hold up the other customers either, as I feel that is rude. I wouldn't want to wait for one person to have 5 - 10 (or Lord forbid 18) transactions before I even get a chance to have one, so why should I make others wait for me to do that?
I know some people make their weekly meal menus from the sales that they find that week. Well, that is not practical for us. We have one child with a soy allergy, which eliminates many products that are on the market, one child that is extremely picky and a husband who is very picky also. I have a sensitive stomach so I also have to be careful what I eat or I will pay for it for the next few days. Having two people in my house with Asperger’s (a high functioning form and autism) makes having different meals difficult. We tend to have the same stuff over and over. We do have some variety but not too much. It is the way my husband likes it and I like him to be happy. I do not usually plan my meals ahead of time either. I buy what foods we like and each day, depending on how tired I feel or how busy I have been, I chose the meal that is practical for that night.
So, you see, I have tried the Extremem Couponing and have decided it really isn't for my family and I. Will I stop using coupons entirely? No, I'll still use them here and there but only for things I will get even if I have no coupon. I will not plan my shopping around the coupons. I will not plan my meals around my coupons and around store sales.
I hope this opens your eyes to the possibilities of Extreme Couponing and the pros and cons that go along with it. Take what you will from this post and leave behind what you don’t like. I know what works for my family and the couponing thing wasn’t it. We, here, are okay with that too. We are cautious with what God has given us and try to be frugal and wise with our finances. God has always gone before us and therefore I am not worried for our finacial future. Keeping Him in the forefront of our hearts has kept us debt free so far. He has always provided and I know that He will continue to do so. :o)