A Job Update and Stocking Up

 

I thought it was time for a job update and an honest look at how everything has been going the past few weeks. 

Today is officially 3 weeks since David was let go. We are doing great, although we have our moments of anger and disbelief that people can be so deceitful and lie to your face, while smiling at the same time.

As the weeks have gone by, we've been able to piece things together and have realized that my husband was most likely fired because he was making too much money and on track to bonus for the 4th time in a year. This often happens with big companies. It's all about their bottom line and the guys at the top are greedy and don't want you getting in the way of the budget. 

So, just like that, they can make up an excuse and did you know that in Texas they don't have to disclose any reason for you being fired? Isn't that the most unfair thing you've ever heard of? They can just give you any lame reason, pack your box and change the course of your life in a moment's time.

But..what they meant for evil, God has used for good!

If I'm repeating myself, I'm sorry, but I have to say that my husband needed to be gone from that place and in the past 3 weeks, he has rested, been able to connect with many old friends and colleagues who have reached out to him with job leads and already has at least two companies that would hire him TODAY, if he were ready to accept.

We've been able to look back and see God's favor in so many ways and for that, we are so grateful. 

As far as the money situation...

We had money in savings (still do- haven't touched it) and have been doing fine with what was left in our checking after the last pay check. He has severance pay coming in (what we are calling "hush money"), so that is paying the bills for now. Hush money means that they give you a severance, tell you not to talk about anything for 6 months "or else" and that's that. Though I sound bitter about it, I'm actually grateful, but again, just another tactic to keep you under their thumb of control. 

However, I recently used our credit card points to acquire gift cards that allowed me to totally stock up on pantry items, snacks, dog food, paper goods and fill the freezer with meat. Where there's a will, there's a way! 

I've gotten the budget down to paying all the bills and still having a good amount each week for groceries, gas, and extra needs as they arise.  Life is good 😀

We've had many talks about this situation and both agree that it's such a blessing to be gone from that job. Now we have to guard our hearts from dwelling on the schemes of men and focus on moving on to better things, with more wisdom and with David earning the respect he deserves. 

I firmly believe that if you look, you can see God's hand in most circumstances (not talking tragedies here). And what you do with that information gained, while looking for God, will be the difference in how you move forward. 

I share all of this to honor what God is doing in our life and because...

"He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God." 2 Corinthians 1:4

And I love the Passion Translation the most...

"He always comes alongside us to comfort us in every suffering so that we can come alongside those who are in any painful trial. We can bring them this same comfort that God has poured out upon us."

Over the past few weeks, David has been able to minister to random people he's come in contact with (because of the job loss) and has had conversations centering on the Lord, that he never expected. 

That's what life is all about, whether dealing with job loss or not. Connecting with people and pointing them to the Source of Life, which is Jesus. 

When this is all said and done, we will look back and see the hand of God in so many places and once again, marvel at his goodness and for that, this will all be worth these temporary trials we are going through.

If you are going through a trial right now, I encourage you to talk about it with trusted friends and look for God's hand in every little detail.  You never know how God will use your testimony to minister to another's heart. 

Until Next Time...

Blessings!

Testing Recipes and Some Ready-to-go Mixes

It seems that when I'm home on Saturdays, I like to cook. This week was no exception.

In fact, I was like a little test kitchen this past weekend; trying out two different batches of brownies, to see which ones I liked. 

I recently saw a recipe that called for yogurt in place of the oil, so I thought I would try it to see if I could make the brownies a bit more Weight Watcher's friendly. The only problem was that I only had low fat yogurt and not the Greek yogurt it called for. But, I made a batch and they came out horrible! It was like eating a glob of mud.

 So, I threw them out and reverted back to an old recipe I've had for years and finally...a good brownie...fat and all! 

 

While the brownies were baking, I decided to put a few ready-made mixes together, to have on hand for next time. This is one of my favorite things to do! I used to make all kinds of mixes on Saturdays and have them in the freezer or pantry until I needed them. 

This is so much easier to do, once you have the ingredients out, instead of taking time to pull out all the stuff, every single time. Plus, if you package them in a cute bag, with a tag, they make great gifts or the perfect addition to a gift basket.

The brownies came out thick and soft, but firm enough that they don't crumble. They were perfect!

This is the book the recipe came from. I've had this book for years and it is full of mixes and recipes, for the kitchen, as well as cleaning and other household concoctions.

Not the best photo, but I was too busy to write out the recipe and instructions, so I just snapped a shot to share here.

When I make the bags of mix, I make a tag with the instructions on it, that way I don't have to refer to the cookbook again, or if I give the mix away, it's already there to pass on. 

I always enjoy making these mixes, so I think I'll do more in the near future. In the past I've made Chocolate Chip Banana Bread mix, Easy Chicken Pasta mix, Beef Stroganoff mix and many others.

It's a fun way to stock the pantry or have on hand as a quick gift if you're putting together a basket or get invited and want to hand the hostess something. 

Either way, it's a "work smarter, not harder" type of task and the rewards are delicious!

Take care and I'll see you in the next post!

Until Next Time...

Blessings!

We Are So Proud!

On Thursday night, David and I got some exciting news...

our oldest son, Ted, was chosen to be

inducted into his hometown's 

Walk of Fame

as the first Christian artist on the walk,

and for his career achievements

as a worship leader,

singer/songwriter,

Christian artist,

music producer,

and mixing engineer.

Needless to say,

we are so proud!

 There will be an official ceremony

in March,

and afterwards,

Ted's picture and bio will be placed

in this hallway at City Hall,

and he will have a star on the 

Walk of Fame

outside the front steps.

This hallway and the walkway

carry the names of 

all the people from this little Texas town,

who have gone on to make a name for themselves.

You might recognize some of them,

such as George Jones,

Tracy Byrd,

Don Rollins,

Jennifer Wrinkle,

Billie Jo Spears

and Clay Walker.

It is quite the honor to be nominated

and voted in, by the committee

and the City Council.

It's been about 6 months in the making

and we finally got the news this week.

🏆

So yesterday we bought donuts,

told Collin and Morgan

to meet us at Ted and Alex's house,

and we surprised Ted with the news.

He was shocked, humbled, and so surprised!

He never suspected that this was ever a possibility.

He was equally shocked to find out that all of us

had managed to keep a secret this long! 😅

Many years ago, we stood on these steps

for the very first Walk of Fame ceremony

and Ted was about 16 or 17 years old.

His dad was a City Councilman

and several of our friends were being

inducted.

We never dreamed we would be back

to watch our own son

get his very own star on the walk.

But here we are.

What an honor.

We are so proud of Ted

and how hard he's worked.

He's a man of integrity

and diligence

and to see him being honored for 

putting in the effort and accomplishing his dreams,

is more than we could ask for, as parents.

But mostly, having a son with great character 

and love for the Lord,

that's really all that matters.

Obviously I will share pictures of the ceremony

once it happens.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Until Next Time...

Blessings!

Babies Everywhere and A Pinecone Contest

 

Babies, babies, everywhere! That's what this week has been 😀

The first picture is our newest grandson, Calem.

His mommy sent this picture to me earlier in the week.

He is 4 months old now and is so sweet.

He smiles the minute anyone smiles at him 😀

This was Family Dinner night.

After we eat, we all move to the living room 

and play with babies.

Here's a picture of Asa Miller sitting up.

He is 9 months old today!

I can't believe he's moving toward his 1st birthday already 😢

He is also such a happy baby and his giggles are the best!

And even though this picture is blurry, 

I wanted to show a glimpse into Calem's daily life.

He's basically adored by his sisters

and can't have a moment to himself 😂

Speaking of the girls...

yesterday was Millie (and Pawpaw) day

and David organized a "pine cone" contest

for them.

They were to go through the yard collecting pine cones

and he would pay them a penny for every one they collected

and put in their pile

(see their names on the fence?).

Here's Ella working hard and of course,

Addie (the baby) deciding she wants no part

of this (after she stopped at 5 pinecones) 😀

Emmy's pile was getting bigger!

Ella was getting tired.

😅

Emmy ended up winning with a total of

105 pinecones!

Ella came in 2nd with 25

and Addie had 5.

David doubled their money so their earnings

were:

Emmy - $2.10

Ella - $.50

Addie - $.10

They were thrilled and talked all the way home

about adding their money to their piggy banks

and what they could buy with their earnings.

The end of their time was spent playing on the swings, riding their

jeep and having me spray them with the water hose.

When Emmy took a turn on the jeep,

Ella asked if she could water the plants,

so here she is watering the roses.

Afterwards, we went inside,

had a snack and I read a new book to them

while they ate.

Then I played a game of "hot potato" with them

and musical chairs.

They loved it!

Millie Day has been a tradition since Emmy was a baby (7 years now)

and I suspect will go on for many more!

I've got two boys to play with, so I can't stop now!

But boy...at the end of the day...

let's just say I'm tired!

But, it's a good tired 😀

and I wouldn't trade it for anything!

Have a great Friday!

Until Next Time...

Blessings!

Sometimes You're Fancy and Sometimes You're Not!

 

Mondays have become my grocery day, so that was my task yesterday (along with laundry and other odd jobs). 

So, after breakfast, I headed out to the grocery store to pick up some things for family dinner on Tuesday. I always try to turn the phone ringer down very low or even put it on silent, so I don't get calls in the store. One of my greatest pet peeves is to see women walking around the store, telling their life story while all of the rest of us are forced to listen. It drives me crazy!

I was just about done with my shopping, when I happened to look at my phone and see a text message from our next door neighbor, inviting us to dinner that night. It sounded like a great idea, so I had to make a quick decision about what to bring. I'm so glad I was already in the store and hadn't checked out yet!

I took a quick detour over to the bakery department and grabbed a Sock It To Me cake and called it a day.

That night we walked through the back yard to their house and had a delicious meal of roast, mashed potatoes and green beans. The beans had an extra touch, which our friend said was a recipe of her mom's. She sauté's bread crumbs in butter and you sprinkle the crumbs over your green beans and let me tell you...it was so delicious! I will definitely be adding that to my next batch of green beans!

The dinner was so nice and casual and so was the dessert 😀

I didn't even try to disguise the cake by taking it out of the container. I just brought it along - as is - and set it on the counter and had no shame 😀

After dinner we sat at the table eating store bought cake and some Polish donuts (my friend is Polish) that she happened to find at HEB and were still in the box on the table, along with the cake. 

Nothing fancy, nothing by scratch (except the meal) and yet the fellowship was so much fun and everything was delicious. 

Sometimes you have time to get fancy and bake and sometimes you get a last minute invitation and you do your best not to come empty handed.

Either way, it's the fellowship that counts, whether it's over Polish donuts or Sock It To Me cake. Just eat and enjoy. You can be fancy on another day. 😀

Until Next Time...

Blessings!

Old Friends

 

Yesterday was a great, restful day. 

David and I went back to our home church,

which we haven't attended in years.

It was very nice to see old friends

and see kids who were now grown

with their own families.

Afterwards, we went to our

friend's house for lunch.

We had homemade lasagna, salad,

asparagus and the lemon pound cake I made,

with hot coffee.

We sat outside and reminisced about old times,

the men's ailments 😅, and grandchildren.

We walked their pastureland and talked about 

old friends and new neighbors.

As we move into a new season of life here,

I hope we can spend more time with

friends.

It does something for your soul, 

to reminisce, talk about growth,

compare notes on life

and share a good meal.

I'm thankful for simple days like this.

Until Next Time...

Blessings!

A Thrifty Saturday and A Surprise Blessing

 

Happy Sunday! I have no idea what the weather is going to give us today, but I'm declaring it a beautiful day, no matter what!

But first...a Saturday recap: 

Yesterday, David was planning on putting trim up in our bathroom (renovation project), but I twisted his arm and told him I wanted to get out of the house and just have some fun. It didn't take much twisting and so off we went!

The first stop was to Home Goods to return an ottoman that wasn't working in our living room. We were just within the return period, so thankfully we got a full refund! We got back $97.00!

Next, we had an old typewriter that David had in his office for years and when he cleaned out all of his stuff last week, he took it to a friend of ours who owns a thrift and resale shop to see if she would want to buy it. She instantly knew the perfect customer who had been looking for a typewriter, so she sold it for us and we made $85.00! 

After those two stops, we had lunch out, but shared an enchilada dinner, chips and salsa and were perfectly full, all for a total of $15.00.

We then made our way to Sam's, where we stocked up on things that were a better price than the grocery stores. We bought meat, eggs, milk, bacon, sausage, flour, sugar, chocolate chips, coffee, creamer, paper towels, toilet paper, dishwasher tabs and paper plates. We were very careful to make sure we were getting a better deal than we would elsewhere and we only bought what we normally buy anyway. We also used a gift card David had been saving, so we didn't spend anything out of our account, which so far, we haven't touched in two weeks!

When we got home, we both agreed that we are having fun challenging ourselves to not spend or to find ways to do it very minimally. 

After putting away the groceries and having our afternoon cup of coffee, I got busy in the kitchen making a pound cake for Sunday's lunch. We are going to visit some friends after church. They are making lunch, so I wanted to take them a treat. I had this Lemon Poundcake in the pantry, so I baked it while continuing to organize all the goods we brought home.

It smelled so good while cooking and cooling and was so very tempting when I was drizzling the icing on top. Yummmm! 

I had put all the ingredients for stew in the crockpot before we left that morning, so it was simmering all afternoon and smelled so good. This is the kind of meal I love, because all the veggies were ones I had saved over the past month and kept adding to the freezer bag. I bought a small package of stew meat, added my saved veggies and one more bag of mixed frozen veggies, some beef broth, a can of tomatoes, and a packet of seasoning and that was it! I didn't have to chop anything, because I had already the veggies in the freezer. 

I made garlic toast and we had a delicious supper while watching Doc Martin (strange British show). 

So it was a full day of making deals, cooking and just relaxing. Our pantry is stocked full of essentials and we still have money left on the gift card we've been using, which we will use next week for Family Dinner supplies. 

Oh, and one more blessing we had on Saturday...

While we were in the thrift store, I walked upstairs, which I never do, and saw a bookshelf way off in a corner. Immediately my eye caught something familiar on the shelf and I knew it was a book that is very special to our family. 

Religion With a Smile was written by David's uncle Earl, back in 1965. We have a copy that was handed down to us by David's parents, but what a blessing and a surprise to find this in a huge warehouse full of stuff!  Of course we bought it ($5.00) and brought it home to give to one of our boys. 

I told David that I felt like the Lord gave us that blessing, just to show us he sees us 💛

It was a great day and a much needed one.

Today we're off to church and then a lunch visit with old friends.

I hope your Sunday is a blessed one my friends! 😊

Until Next Time...

Blessings!

Frugal Memories ...Do You Have Any?

 

Hello my friends! It's been a rainy, cold week again, so we've been spending lots of time inside. David and I have been enjoying these first few weeks at home together. I've only had one day where I felt like I needed some space, but I was tired and felt better the next day. 

Can you relate? I'm the kind of person that refuels on time spent alone - reading, cleaning, being creative - and need to have some quiet in my day. 

I am married to someone the complete opposite! David can sit on the couch, with laptop, phone, tv, papers and coffee and be as happy as can be, which drives me crazy! 

It makes me feel like my house is in disarray all day, which I don't like. 

We did fix him a small desk in the spare room, but it is torture for him to actually work in there alone, with no tv or noise 😅

I've always said that God has such a sense of humor when it comes to putting opposites together. 

He's been very busy taking calls from people who want his resume, which is such a blessing. We are taking it all in and will put lots of prayer into choosing his next job. 

I am still devouring blogs and books about homemaking, living on a small salary, and being frugal. 

I am naturally a frugal person, but also love to shop, so finding ways to pair those two aspects together has been fun and challenging. 

But the most challenging thing so far, has been not eating out. I love to pick up lunch a few times a week, but for the past two weeks, have been eating at home, with the exception of Valentine's night and yesterday when we bought Chick-fil-A breakfast for the girls.

Today I am going to a friend's for a few hours and she has offered to buy lunch this time, so I am looking forward to that!

I made a list of my freezer inventory at the beginning of the week and can easily see what's available for meals right now. I think every little bit of prep work (even just having a list of foods) will help me be successful at spending less. 

After taking the girls home yesterday, we stopped by the Dollar General to grab a few snacks that David wanted. While there, I decided to pick up some paper plates and was so frustrated that they actually cost more than the grocery store! This is why I don't shop dollar stores! You have to be so careful on some of the products where they jack up the prices to make up for the ones that are actually cheaper. They will get their money somehow. 

The other day, while we were in town, I was reminded of our first few years of marriage, when I would go with a co-worker to the bakery thrift store. I'm not sure if these still exist (the one in our town is gone), but we would buy bread and breakfast pastries for small amounts of money and it was a fun outing on our lunch break. 

I have another memory that comes to mind, every now and then, of the year our first baby was born and I would pay all the bills, buy all the diapers and formula and have $25 left for the week. I would go to the store in town, with a carefully written list, and buy just enough to last for the week. Those were challenging times, but we made it work. 

Do you have any memories of times where you had to really stretch your dollars?

I would love to hear about them in the comments!

Until Next Time...

Blessings!

Your Job Is Not Your Identity and Other Bits and Pieces

One week ago today, our lives were changed for the better. David was unfairly let go from his job, with no explanation. 

It's been a long week of piecing together bits of information, names, etc., making sure our finances are together, getting phone calls from friends, co-workers who didn't get to say goodbye and new companies interested in talking to David about a job. 

All the things you want to say, people you want to slap (just being real), and all the injustices you want to correct, have played out in our heads, over and over, and I suspect they will continue to do so, for awhile. 

But, the reality is...it's been a fantastic week of peace and freedom!

We have had time to sit together in the mornings and talk about what God is doing in our lives. We've talked about how we never want to be slaves to a paycheck again. Money is nice to have, but when you're struggling under the weight of a job that is robbing your joy, it's not worth it. 

We've had lots of fun finding gift cards we haven't used yet, taking our coin jars to the bank to the tune of $94.00, and going to lunch for $5.00 on a restaurant reward we had.  These are things we are doing just because they are fun and challenging to do and they remind us of how we used to live, when our kids were little. Money was tight, but we were happy.

We are going to be just fine, but it's been a great reminder that money is just a tool we use to pay the bills. Don't sell your body, mind and soul to have more. Have what you need to be comfortable and then go live life!

It's been nice to see my husband relax and take time for himself. He donated much of what he had in his office, threw away awards and certificates he had earned over the years and it felt like dead weight that he had been hauling around for the last 20 years was finally gone.

A job is not your identity. It's a way to pay the bills. It's a way to eat and you can do all of that and still have your life be an abundant one, if you keep your "wants" in check. 

So...enough about that!

Over the weekend I made, what I call, lazy cookies 😀🍪 When I'm too lazy to make individual cookies, I make pan cookies and just cut them in squares.

I cut enough for the two of us and packed two ziploc bags for the freezer. I also made Mexican cornbread and a pot of pinto beans for the weekend and I had enough to freeze for another meal, later on. 

I just love filling my freezer like this! It's so easy and it is nice to have meals ready for the days I don't want to cook.

I've taken time to sit outside this week and read. I think I might have said this in the last post, but when something happens to shake up your world, all the "urgent" to-do's don't seem so urgent anymore.

Things get put on hold and put into perspective and all of a sudden, those projects that you just had to get done, seem trivial. It's been nice.

So I finished two books that I have been reading (you can see them on my Goodreads page). I started a fiction book, just to have some entertainment and then I got a few of the cookbooks I ordered (before the job loss) and the Tightwad Gazette.

These are so cute and were really cheap on Thriftbooks.com. They are full of stories and recipes from years ago and just perfect for reading, while I'm waiting on things to cook. 

This is basically a collector's item. It's been a favorite of anyone trying to live frugally. Again, it's something I will read little bits at a time. It's a very big book, full of stories and ideas of how to live frugally. 

I bought these just for fun, but how timely that they came last week, when God knew they would pertain to our lives. 

Today David has a zoom call and a meeting with a potential opportunity. My day will be filled with bathing the dog, a bit of cleaning, as well as preparing a meal for supper tonight (it's Valentine's Day). I will also be catching up on some book editing, maybe rearranging something in the guest room and possibly reading on the back porch. Who knows? I'll just do what I feel like spending time on today.

Whatever doesn't get done today, will certainly still be there tomorrow!

I hope you have a wonderful day, whatever you choose to do 😀

Until Next Time...

Blessings!

When Life Goes Haywire (and the budget does too)!

 

I've noticed something about life...just when you think you're going in one direction, the lane ends and you need to go another way. 

I've always felt like this was God's way of keeping us focused solely on Him, rather than thinking we are in control. And it works!

The past few weeks I had been feeling so content in my routines around the house. I was doing certain things on certain days and setting aside time to write and trying to move into a more intentional way of spending time and money.

I had worked on the budget and created a plan that allowed for all the necessities, some fun, some savings and even retirement. 

But now...all of that is blown out of the water. 

Budget?

Time?

Routine?

When life takes a turn, all the things on the To-Do list and all the things you thought were important, all of a sudden seem very small.

(In case you haven't read my life update, go back to the previous post.)

So, the past few days have been pretty busy. 

While David had been bombarded with phone calls and texts from friends and coworkers, I've been busy working on a new budget, refinancing our cars, moving money around and hopefully setting up a system that will carry us through this unemployed season. 

There's always hindsight involved too, such as "should have saved more" or "shouldn't have bought this or that!" But, all you can do is move forward and learn the lessons as you go and we will. But in the meantime, we will be as frugal as can be and marveling at all the little ways that God takes care of us, as we've already seen in just the past few days.

And because I said and have always said that I want our trials to be a testimony, I'll share a story with you about our vehicles.

A letter came in the mail this week, advertising some refinancing options at the credit union. I usually throw these away because they just seem like junk mail. But this time, I actually took time to read the letter and thought "Hmmm, I wonder if we could refinance." 

In what only took a matter of hours, we had both of our cars refinanced, payments deferred for 90 days and even got paid a "prize" for refinancing, which went straight into our checking account. That amounts to having no car payments for 3 months, while David looks for a job, and helps our budget out tremendously!

Now some may say it was just a coincidence to get that letter in the mail, but if you knew how I normally treat "junk" mail, you would know what a miracle it was that I took time to read it and then what a smooth, painless process it was to get it done. I had the sweetest lady named Kelly helping me and it couldn't have gone better or any faster. It was such a blessing.

David already has two meetings set up for next week and he's had so many people reaching out, telling him about opportunities. 

If one thing is good when life goes haywire, it's feeling the love from those who truly care. And we have.

So thank you to all who have lifted us up in prayer this week! You never know how your prayers are moving our circumstances and the ultimate outcome of this situation. Thank you!

And with that, I will say...

Until Next Time...

Blessings!

My Husband Was Laid Off - Our First Day of Freedom

 

Good morning friends 😀

It's early o'clock this morning and I'm up having my first cup of coffee, not able to turn my mind off. 

Today is the first day of a new beginning for David and I, as he was laid off from his job of 8 years yesterday.

This is actually an answered prayer. The job was the most stressful job he's ever had and it has caused my husband a tremendous amount of stress over the years. But, like a bad relationship, sometimes you stay because it seems the easier thing to do and sometimes the Lord has to do something dramatic to move you, since you won't do it on your own.

So, here we are, our first day of a fresh start.

We've been here before and God has always - 100% - taken care of every single need. 

David's first layoff was when our oldest son was 3 years old. We had just come back from a weeklong vacation in Tennessee, which was remarkable anyway, because we didn't have much money back then.

When David went to work the next week, he called me on his lunch break and said he was coming home because he had been let go. Being married to a jokester, I thought he was joking, but he wasn't. By noon that day, he was unemployed. 

God took care of us then and I remember saying that I wanted our experience to end up as part of our testimony, and it has. It made David a better boss and he knew how to treat his employees because of his own experience.

His next layoff was just before our 2nd son was born. We were about to have our 2nd child, I had just started homeschooling Ted for kindergarten and we were right in the middle of selling our house. It couldn't have been a worse time for moving, finding a new job and giving birth, but there we were.

That turned out to be such a blessing in disguise, because we had two deaths in the family during the months that it took for David to find a new job and had he not been at home, we would have had a hard time navigating those few months and family needs. 

Fast forward from there, for the next 10 years, he had a very amazing career with a wonderful company, until they weren't. My husband works in health care and in case you're not familiar, it's a cutthroat world.

His company sold out and all their top executives were fired. That was the point when we realized that all the accolades and awards hanging on the office wall mean nothing to the ones holding the big check they get when they sell out and leave the employees hanging. It was a harsh blow.

But again...God. 

This current job he just lost has been a nightmare from day one...8 1/2 years ago. David started the office from ground zero.  No employees, no patients, barely an office and he built it, piece by piece, until yesterday, where he had 97 patients and 43 employees.  But, when you have bad management, you can do all of that and it will all come crumbling down because you can't control the people at the top. When the people above you continue to make bad decisions, all you can do is hang on for the ride and hope for the best.

But...God.

Again.

My kids and I have been begging David to quit for years. But we ultimately knew that he was the one who had to feel peace in making that decision. But sometimes God nudges you and if you don't make the move, he will make it for you. And that's what happened this time.

As always, I pray it makes him a better boss next time. I pray it will solidify, in his next choice of work, what he will stand for and what he won't. And honestly, I hope we can kiss healthcare goodbye for good. As much as it's full of good samaritans, it's also full of regular old, hate filled, miserable people as well. 

I'm so glad we have other times to look back on and remember how the Lord prepared us and took care of us, because those are the times we draw from when we need strength for the days ahead.

I know I will look back in a few months and see all the ways the Lord had his hand on the little details, such as how I was starting to feel the need to really get organized in our spending and cutting back on eating out and just other household things that I've felt led to do lately. That's what God does.

He begins to lead you in the little ways and when it's time for the transition, you can look back and see how it all added up to the big event. 

So now, our first day at home together, I will make him a big breakfast and I imagine he will be getting phone calls most of the day and answering questions from friends. He already feels less stressed and the girls are all excited that Millie Day has now turned into Millie and PawPaw day tomorrow. And you know what? We are too.

I can't think of a better celebration than being with our babies, playing at the park, taking them to get "cheese hamburgers" and ice cream at DQ. 

The job hunt can start next week. This week we rest, play, have coffee on the back porch, and give God all the glory for what he continues to do in our lives.

And all will be fine.

Please pray for God to speak to us in ways we can understand and lead David to a place where he can truly thrive. For that, I will be so grateful, my friends.

Until Next Time...

Blessings!

Filling Up the Granola Jar and Other Projects Getting Done

 Hello Monday! and Hello Friends 😀

It kind of feels like I'm not ready to be thrown back into the work week, but here we are! Although we worked all weekend too, so maybe today will be somewhat slower. 

I spent all day Saturday working around the house. I was in the kitchen for the first few hours, making homemade granola and some peanut butter protein bites. 

I love to spend time in the kitchen on a Saturday when David is working around the house. Thankfully this weekend was sunny and cool, so we had the back door open, all the curtains pulled back and the sun was shining and making the nasty weather of last week seem like a distant memory. 

I wanted to fill up my granola jar, so after making a batch of protein bites, I had all the ingredients out, so I decided to make the granola, as well. 

I used oats, peanut butter, walnuts, vanilla, maple syrup, oil, and cinnamon. I mixed it all, spread it on a smaller cookie sheet (so it would be thicker) and baked it at 300 for about 35 minutes until browned. I then let it cool completely before breaking it into chunks and filling up my jar. 

I love to grab a few bites of this as a snack while we're watching tv at night. I feel like it's a healthy alternative to most other things I really want (chips, cookies, etc.).

The protein bites are for breakfast and contain much of the same ingredients, but I also added chocolate chips to those. They are mostly oats and peanut butter and just give a decent amount of protein if you need a quick bite to satisfy you for a bit.

After spending a few hours in the kitchen, I moved on to other things around the house. I've had several projects going this week, such as rearranging my living room, working on the guest room and restocking the bathroom supplies. 

Speaking of restocking...I went to Target on Friday, which was my only shopping day last week (besides grocery pick up on Monday) and spent way too much stocking up on shampoos, snacks and other household items. 

I equated it to binge eating, when you've dieted all week and then go crazy on the weekend. That's what it felt like to go shopping on Friday 😀 I essentially saved money all week and then went way overboard on Friday! Ugggg. Well, hopefully I will do better this week.

I will be doing a grocery run today, but only for veggies, some deli meat and a few other items. I'm officially going on Weight Watchers this week. Yep. It's way beyond time! I've done it before and for the amount of time I actually stuck to it, lost some weight. But that was many years ago and I was much younger. We'll see. 

Anyway, the rest of the weekend continued to be busy, with church on Sunday, lunch with the kids, then getting home and putting together some book shelves for the guest room. 

It's funny how one task leads to another, because the book shelves are for some books I have stacked at the top of my office closet and need to be put on the shelf, so the closet is free for other things. This means I will be cleaning out the closet this week, which has been on my list for awhile now.

But you know what? That's how I roll. Always a project going on, with some downtime in between. 

I keep thinking that I'm "almost done" and then I see something else that needs organizing or revamped and off we go!

Well, I'm off to eat a protein bite, get ready for the day and head out to the store. 

Today is going to be a great day! I hope it is for you too, my friend 😀

Until Next Time...

Blessings!

A Week Full of Rain, Staying Home, and Millie Day

 

This is what January had me feeling like (see Banjo above) and February hasn't started out much better. Today is the first day we haven't had buckets of rain from the moment we got up. The sun is actually peeking out, like it might show up today. I sure hope so!

I've managed to stay home most of this week, with the exception of a grocery pick up on Monday and picking up my girls yesterday for Millie Day.

Other than that, I've been purposely at home working around the house, writing a little and dealing with technical issues with one of my books. But, it's been nice staying home and not spending money.

Do you find that every time you leave the house, money seems to disappear?😀 Just flies right out of my purse!

I've been watching Coffee With Kate videos and really enjoying just working around the house, cooking more and taking time to read or cook and not feeling like I need to be out of the home as much. 

It's not hard for me to stay home. I'm very much a homebody. But at least once or twice a week I like to get out, go shop for something decorative or crafty or pick up lunch and bring it back. It just helps to break up the week.

Yesterday I had my 3 girls all day for Millie Day. They keep me going from morning till night! I picked them up at 9:30 a.m. and took them home around 6:00 p.m. That's a long day with ages 7, 6, and 3! I am worn out when they go home! 

They love it when I make a list of activities and write them on the pantry door (I have a chalkboard surface on the door). 

Yesterday's list consisted of: Playdoh, Puzzles, Reading, Games, Dance Party, TV show, Spelling, Math, and Toys. And you can be sure...we did all of it! 

I always buy them breakfast after I pick them up, which is usually Chick-Fil-A. But yesterday they all wanted Dunkin' Donuts, so we went through the drive thru on our way to my house. 

Going through the drive thru with 3 chatty little girls in the back, all telling me to be sure and "get this" and "don't forget this!" is a hoot! 😅 Somehow we managed to get home with the correct order. 

I often think back to raising my boys and how well they played by themselves. They loved legos, hot wheels, their guitars and of course, video games. They rarely needed me to entertain them. But girls...they want all the quality time! So on Millie Days, I carve out the entire day, with nothing else on the agenda, but feeding them, playing with them and trying my best to keep the house halfway picked up behind them.

It's always a full day, but I know (and hope) they will look back on these days with me and remember the fun things we did together. 

Today I am finally getting out. I have birthday gifts to buy and some snacks to stock up on. The pantry is getting kind of bare, as far as snacks go. I'm going to attempt to find some healthy options for David and I to snack on at night. We always just want a handful of something while watching our shows after dinner.

Then, later this evening, we are keeping our little Asa Miller while Collin and Morgan go to dinner. This is a rare treat, getting to keep Asa.  They don't like to leave him, so we've only kept him twice in his 8 months 😀 But that's ok! They are such amazing parents and I remember what it's like to be so in love with your first baby that you want him all to yourself. 

I mean...look at him!

And here's a picture of Calem with all the girls...

It will be awhile before I keep him too. Look at that little man! And all of those doting sisters 😅

He is not lacking for attention, as you can tell! He's the sweetest little man. He is very talkative and I imagine he will have to be, considering the competition. 

So after having family dinner on Tuesday, Millie Day on Thursday and keeping Asa tonight, I will have had my fill of loving on grand babies. 

I honestly can't think of a better way to spend my time.

And to think I was a bit afraid of the "empty nest" years 😀

Have a great weekend everyone!

Until Next Time...

Blessings!

The White Bowl

 

This looks like it might be a post about muffins, but it's really a post about a bowl and how I never knew there could be such thing as a "favorite bowl" for certain dishes, but for many years now, I've been proven wrong.

Back in college, I moved in with my dad, stepmom and my 3 younger sisters for a short while to go to school. My stepmom was a master homemaker and cook and I had learned so much from her over the years. 

But apparently, the one thing I had not mastered was what bowls were used for certain things, until my 5 year old little sister decided to set me straight one day.

I think I was making tuna for lunch and she proceeded to tell me that I was using the wrong bowl; that her mother always used a different bowl for making tuna. I have to say, I had never heard of such a thing! I mean, did it really matter what bowl you used?

But, I complied and used the correct bowl and never made that mistake again. 

Fast forward to becoming the homemaker and cook of my own domain, and guess what? I only use this white bowl for mixing muffin mix or cornbread and nothing else. Yes, I am that person 😀

I think I picked this bowl up from a thrift store many years ago, and it has ALWAYS been designated as the muffin and cornbread mixing bowl. It wouldn't feel right to use any other.

So anytime I'm feeling like I want muffins or cornbread, I search the shelf for my white bowl. It's been faithful to turn out a great pan of either, every time. It's thick and sturdy and even has a handy little spout for pouring the mix into the pan. It cleans up nicely and then goes back on the shelf until the next time.

In fact, the next time my girls come over, I may just go ahead and educate them on what the proper use of that bowl is, so there will be no questions should they ever desire to make muffins or cornbread in the future. 

And that, my friends, is the story of the white bowl. 

If you have a favorite bowl, only used for certain things, go ahead and tell me about it in the comments.

Until Next Time...

Blessings!