Small Changes, Big Difference

We got a new couch over Christmas break.  It's the one that is in the background more, on the first picture and isn't showing in the second one.  As much as I hate the game of grocery shopping, I LOVE the game of Craig's list.  This is a Micro-fiber couch with very little wear, no smoke smell, no pet issues.  It would be over $600 new (probably closer to $900!).  We got it for $60!  She said she hardly used it, and other than the 6 (out of 9) bolts that were holding the center section to the frame, that were missing, it showed. It looks brand new.  It was a BEAR to get out of her apartment, so I suppose we did pay some sweat for it, too, besides the $60 and the cost of the six bolts, but it was worth it!  Oh - did I mention that it RECLINES!?!?!?  The leather couch that is also showing in the pictures is one we also got on Craig's list, for $200 right after the storm.  : )  I love Craig's list.  (got the coffee table there too!) But what I'm MOST excited about at this point is the shelf behind the leather couch.  It is something we had already, but it was up in Annie's room. (I got her some new book shelves) but I've been wanting to put something in that spot for some time but the couch we replaced was curved, so it didn't really work to have it against the wall, it used to sit where the leather one is now.  Since the leather couch is NOT curved, we put the shelf there, behind it and WOW!  What a difference it has made in this room.  I LOVE HAVING THAT SHELF THERE!  I don't know what it is, but it just anchors the room somehow.  It might be that the other couch that used to be there was a slightly lighter color, or something, and having the darker couch there, and the shelf behind it just really changed the feel of the room.  I LOVE it.  It also has cupboards, so instead of the media (DVD's and CD's) being a sloppy mess on the book shelf in the foreground of the second picture, they are tucked inside of one of those cupboards now, instead.  And there is a small shelf at the top, if you look closely in the first shot, you can see that there are magazines stacked on that shelf, so the magazines are no longer making the coffee table look messy.  It's amazing what a simple piece of furniture can do for a room, and for the people who live there.  It just makes me happy, every time I see it there.  : )

ttfn

It's always a game of some sort at the Grocery store.

    So, grocery shopping is NOT my favorite task.  As much as I DO enjoy the moments of nobody interrupting my thoughts or needing to be put into time-out (I REFUSE to take children shopping with me, unless they are along for the express purpose of helping), there is still ALWAYS some silly game to play.  Some people enjoy those games, and occasionally I find them intriguing enough, when they save me substantial money, but most of the time I end up feeling yanked around, and only minimally triumphant, when I mange to 'win' at their game.  Today was one of those days.  I found that the spaghetti that I wanted to buy, had a coupon available for it.  Now, I'm not typically a big one on the coupon scene.  Our family eats a lot of produce and things that get made from scratch, and there just aren't that many coupons for produce and baking supplies, so I typically don't bother with coupons for the few pre-packaged items we do purchase.  But this one was for 75¢ off of a product that I was already buying, I was getting two, so total savings of $1.50.  It was worth the trip to the front of the store to retrieve the coupons from the little rack there, I guess.  I'm not sure, entirely, why one has to show the little torn piece of paper, to get the deal.  Why not just mark it down in price?  And it ended up that the coupon was only for ONE box, but I didn't realize that until I was already in line, and going BACK to the front AGAIN to get ANOTHER flyer, just didn't seem worth it.  Bother. 
Then there was the tater tots. First, I couldn't find the store brand ones, that I usually like, so I grabbed the Ore-Ida ones.  Then I noticed that the price on the 'Extra Crispy' ones was the same.  We like them crispy, so I put the others back and grabbed the Extra Crispy ones.  They were noticeably lighter in weight, so a quick check of the product details and proved that the 'regular' ones had nearly 1/3 more product for that 'same' price.  Bother.  Put the Extra Crispy ones back, got the regular ones, then went to get Hashbrowns, and discovered, there, next to the store-brand hash browns were the store-brand tater tots and they were considerably cheaper than even the regular Ore-Ida's, so another shuffle and I finally have what I wanted in the first place, in my cart.  
     So, even though I don't get interrupted by small people needing me to read spelling words for them, I find that grocery shopping is as much about learning to play the game and pay attention and get it right.  Fortunately, at my local Publix, the people who check you out, bag your groceries and help you to the car with them, so that they can bring in the cart for you, are all very gracious and pleasant to work with.  And when I get home, my kids KNOW that unloading and putting the groceries away is THEIR job, so that Mommy can go sit down and have a minute to get on facebook - um - no - I meant blog...  : )

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Thankfulness...

I recently read the book "One Thousand Gifts" by Ann Voskamp.  It is one of those life changing books that you don't really put down when you are done, you take it in, and begin living it.  Lon got me the devotional for Christmas, and I started reading it yesterday (it's only a 60 day devotional, so it doesn't have to be started on any particular day) Today's entry started with a scripture quote -

              His secret purpose, framed from the beginning, [is] to bring us to our full glory.
                                                                                                                                  1 Corinthians 2:7

I like the idea of a God who works constantly for the best good of His people.  So often we get the idea that God is up there, watching us, out to get us.  I know that is a concept that I had deeply instilled in me throughout my childhood and youth.  The judge side of God was emphasized and the mentor, and advocate side was, well...  let's just say NOT emphasized.

I need to make this more the focus of my understanding of God.  That He is 'on a mission' to bring about my prosperity and success.

Now, that said.  I think it's important to remember that God often has very different priorities than we do.  Someone recently said to me, in the middle of a conversation we were having about the troubles that one or the other of us was facing...  "God isn't really all that interested in our physical comfort."  He's not.  His highest and first concern is our eternal destiny.  He will work with us, and bring us to, and through difficult things, and walk through tough stuff WITH us, to accomplish HIS plans for us.  His plans focus on where we will be for eternity.  His is working toward that place being "With Him".

One thing that I really struggle with is discipline and sticking to a plan once it's made.  I'm nervous that this new commitment to blogging will fall by the wayside, as so many other things have done.  But I'm hoping (and praying) that it doesn't because this is a specific area of my life that God is working with me on.  I think that one of the things that stands between me, and being a 'true child of God' is my ability to 'stick to it'.  To consistently study.  To pray DAILY.  To stop, and take God's perspective on things, before I make decisions. To be a follower of Him, rather than just a member of the 'religion club'.    I am hoping that keeping this thought - that He has 'framed, from the beginning, my success, in Him' will help me to keep on keeping on.  To stay the course and keep working on 'stuff' even when it's hard and it hurts.  (there is stuff in my life that is hurting very much right now - I won't probably talk about it much here, but it's there.  I think we ALL have that - the devil makes sure we do, and God, if we allow Him to, uses it, to help us grow closer to Him). 

Deep thoughts for a Thursday morning.  Maybe something lighter and simpler, later today... 

ttfn

Two in one night - don't get TOO used to it!!

OK - so I'm off and running - As I was re-arranging the page, and making it purtty-ful I was looking for a way to put in the calendar-style journaling that I mentioned in that last post.  So, I did some googleing and stumbled across this VERY cool site:  Cozi.com.   WOW -  I signed right up and spent about an hour (or more) poking around and getting very excited.  One thing Lon and I were discussing over the weekend, is how it is sometimes hard for him to get a grasp on what it is that fills my days most of the time.  I think this tool will help us all stay in touch with each other and be more aware of what is going on in each-other's lives.  As the two older girls get going with more and more busy and more and more independent schedules, this will be a very helpful tool for that new aspect of our lives, too.  I'm excited!! 

It includes a calendar, a menu planner, a shopping list, a journaling location, a family message center (that sends text messages out to multiple family members), To-Do lists (read: Chore lists), a recipe organizer.  AND you can use it from your laptop, desktop, tablet or phone!!!!! 

If you have not seen it, you ought to check it out - I'm VERY excited about what it will do for us, as we try to keep this crazy tribe organized and all (generally) heading in the same direction (most of the time).

ttfn

grrrr...  had an entry partially written and then LOST it.

Ah, well, we shall try again.  I'm a little slow on the draw, I guess, but I'm thinking more and more about this whole New-Year's Resolution thing and I'm thinking one goal I might like to have for myself this year, (besides walking more) is to do more blogging.  I also want to take the 'website' up a notch or two.  Maybe including things like, options for people to purchase my artwork, and various blogs by various kids with information about various projects they are working on, etc.  It might become a sort of digital family record.  I saw a cool journal thing that someone posted, of how they journal the happenings of their family in this really cute book that the mom created.  I'm thinking this will become something similar to that, but, here, online, instead.  Maybe we will eventually include a calendar, recording the things that various people did each day, sort of as a record, to look back over.  Annie and Sarah are going to be doing some web design learning, and I may decide to learn right along with them, and revamp this whole thing into our very own family web-site.  Who knows.  I'd also like us to take the thankfulness challenge, and start recording the things we are thankful for, each day.  This seems like as good of a place as any, for us to do that.  And maybe also include things that are on our prayer list at the moment (as much as possible, being careful about the privacy of others). 
     Some people focus their blog on one particular topic.  I'm not very good at that.  There are a great many topics that catch my interest over the coarse of a month, or even a week, or even a day.  Or even a moment...  hmmm (maybe I should include ADHD on the list below)...  so it will, naturally be a rather eclectic progression of thoughts.  But those of you who know me, will be rather used to that I think...  some of the topics I could easily see being addressed here, regularly, will be:
         RAD (Reactive Attachment Disorder)
         FAD (Fetal Alcohol Syndrom)
         PDD (Pervasive Developmental Disorder)
                       (also known as Atypical Autism)
         Parkinson's Disease (my Dad has it)
         Motherless Mothers
         Adoption
         Homeschooling
         Being Married to an Engineer
         Natural Healing
         Mental Health
         Larger than Average Families
         Life with 3 (soon to be 4) teens in the house
         Teen Drivers
         College age kids
         Summer camp
         Crafts
         Sewing
         Cooking
         Gluten Free Cooking
         Travel with kids
         Christianity/Spirituality
         Disaster Preparedness
         Disaster Survival Observations
         Chickens
         Gardening
         Natural Building
         Favorite Books
         Favorite Products
         Pinterest/Facebook
         Vacation Bible School
         Pathfinders
       
         and many many many others I'm sure....
      Anyway...  here goes....  I'm going to try to post something new here nearly every day.  Whatever I'm thankful for, or excited about or perplexed by on that particular day, or at that particular moment when I sit down to write.
       PLEASE comment!!!  I'm kind of thinking this may sort of replace Facebook for me, as I'm getting more and more frustrated with the way they are always messing with things and changing things around over there.  I enjoy your feedback and I will likely respond to your questions.
       So, the new thing in 2013 for me, is my blog.  Welcome to my more active blog.  Happy 2013. 

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