Changes

We're at the end of 2009. What a crazy year this has been. The craziest part was loosing an aunt before it was her time to lung cancer. I truly hate cigarettes, and if you smoke, please think about what it does to your family. She missed her daughter's wedding by 3 months. :(

Frugal-wise, we got that deep freezer for ourselves for Christmas. My parents helped us fill it for Christmas too...what a blessing!

2010 brings a lot of changes here. In exactly 5 weeks I will be having surgery. A total abdominal hysterectomy. I know what you're thinking...she's only 30?! But my body has said enough is enough. I've had two very scary months, so it's time to say goodbye to that stage of my life. I'm actually a little excited about it...no more checking the calendar before I can go swimming, no more cramps and heating pads, and there's a certain section of the store I won't have to visit! (unfortunately we've only got a few years for that one since the girls are getting older!)

So I will be spending January getting prepared for 4-6 weeks of recovery. Meals need to be made and frozen so Jeff will just have to reheat stuff, and schedules need to be figured out since the girls' dance will still go on. I've got my crafts ready, and a stack of books ready to read.

It's time for change.

We are looking at one of these as a Christmas present to ourselves. ;) It's a 9 cu. ft. deep freezer from Lowes http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=90724-2251-LFFC09M5HW&lpage=none

I can't wait to try some once-a-month cooking! Usually Angelfood fills up my little freezer above the refrigerator, and I can't put very much more in there. So stay tuned...I'm going to become a baking fool in a couple of months. ;)

We're doing good here...

I've been quiet here over the summer. We're debt free...have been for 6 months now. This helped us out greatly when the cat spent several days in kitty-ICU over the summer. Did you know cats get asthma? :( But she's fine now...she better be for what we spent on her! :P

We're planning a Disney road trip for 2010...paid for in cash! It will be a trip out West...we'll visit the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Carlsbad Caverns, Disneyland. It feels so good to be able to do this for the girls. :)

Angelfood is looking for new customers. We get this almost every month...depends on what the menu is. Get more information here: http://www.angelfoodministries.com/Default.asp?

Angel Food-June

http://www.angelfoodministries.com/menu_0906en.asp

Here is the link for the June menu for Angel Food. We have to order by June 13 for a June 20 pick up. Please check with Angel Food for your local pick up times here.

Save money...go to the library!

Summer is fast approaching. Along with summer comes kids who are "bored". If your kids fit into this category, consider making a weekly (at least) trip to the library.

We'll be doing several free activities at our library. They include:

• Summer reading program...for every 8 books, they get prizes. Last year we watched a baseball game at the end of the season!

• Free movie Thursdays...we'll get to watch older children's movies for just the cost of parking (our library is in downtown OKC...so there's parking meters)

Please don't forget about the library this summer. As long as you stay away from the late fees (last night a man had $9 in fees), it's a very cheap and educational way to entertain your family.

Angel Food-May

I've ordered our AngelFood order this month. We'll pick it up May 16. It will have:

2.5 lb. Lean Chopped Beef Steaks (5 x 8 oz.)

5 lb. Leg Quarters

2 lb. Chicken and Corn Bread Stuffing Casserole (Ready to Cook)

28 oz. Salisbury Steak Dinner Entrée

1 lb. Boneless Pork Chops (4 x 4 oz.)

1 lb. Corn Dogs (6 ct.)

12 oz. Deli Sliced Ham

5 oz. Chunk Light Tuna in Water

32 oz. French Fries

1 lb. Sweet Corn

15 oz. Musselman’s Apple Sauce

15 oz. Pears (Product of U.S.A.)

8 oz. Dinner Roll Mix
(Makes 8 Nice Rolls)

7.5 oz. Mac ’n Cheese

32 oz. 2% Shelf Stable Milk

Dozen Eggs

Dessert

Not too shabby for $30. :)

Sunday Afternoon at the thrift store!

Today I thought they were having their monthly $1 sale (where all clothing and shoes were $1), but I got quite a shock. Every Sunday this month if a clothing item has a white or pink sticker, they are 5/$1!!! I diligently went through the children's clothing racks, and then made my way to the women's area. Here is what I got:

1 Gap girl's dress (purple with sparkly butterflies on it)
1 unknown girls dress (could be homemade, or it's tag might have been cut off)
1 pink derek heart sweater
1 purple faded glory sweater
1 White Stag women's tank top
1 Liz Claiborne tank size XL
1 unknown women's dress (tan dress that *may* be homemade)
1 Cherokee overalls sz XL
1 Sonoma boys pant
1 Levi's jeans sz 7
1 GLO jeans sz 8
1 Limited Too jeans sz 7
1 Wrangler's boy jeans sz 8
1 Wrangler's boy jeans sz 10
1 LL Bean pant sz 5/6

ALL OF THIS TOTALED $3!!!

I then bought a My Michelle girl's dress for $4.

MY TOTAL TODAY WAS $7.56!

Back to a "normal" life LOL

The end of March saw me quitting Wal-mart. I just couldn't handle the hours anymore...working until midnight and then getting up early the next morning was too much. I'm currently getting ready to start teaching piano lessons again.

Since I've quit, I've stopped spending $150 a WEEK at Wal-mart. My entire paycheck went back into the store! I've gone back to shopping at Crest, Aldi, and Braum's...and our food budget has gone WAY down!

We'll get our Angelfood box this weekend. It will have:

• 1.5 lb. NY Strip Steak (4 x 6 oz.)
• 2 lb. Chicken Breast Stir Fry
• 2 lb. Breaded Breast Fillet
• 1 lb. Steak Fajita Strips
• 20 oz. Supreme Pizza
• 28 oz. Jumbo Beef Patties w/Gravy
• 1 lb. All Meat Hot Dogs
• 10 oz. Individually-Wrapped Cheese (16 slice)
• 1 lb. Mixed Vegetables
• 2 lb. French Fries
• 12 ct. White Corn Tortillas
• 1 lb. Rice
• 15 oz. Peach Halves
• 6 oz. Pancake Mix
• 32 oz. 2% Shelf Stable Milk
• One Dozen Eggs
• One Dessert Item

All of this for $30! We're planning on going by the Farmer's Market, so we'll probably spend another $20 on fruits and veggies.

Wal-mart and New Year's resolutions...

I'm officially a permanent cashier at Wal-mart. I will most likely stay that way until we have my in-laws paid off (they helped pay for our ac/heater in November). I know money isn't everything, but this job has helped sooooo much! Right now I'm checking out people that have made a lot of New Year's resolutions...they've got a lot of fruits and vegetables, and they have yoga mats and sports bras.

I've been thinking a lot about my New Year's resolutions. Here is what I've come up with so far:

1. Get in better health. Next week I have yet another appointment with my ENT, and he will be looking at blockage in my right sinus under my eye. If he doesn't like what he sees next week, we're looking at surgery. I really want to be off all the antibiotics (they are wrecking havoc on other areas of my body). And of course there's the weight...I'm still 80 pounds overweight. So eating right and exercising need to be high on my to-do list. Drinking 8-8oz glasses of water a day is another big goal of mine.

2. I need to be a better time manager. There are so many things on my daily to-do list and yet here I am sitting on the computer. Maybe the computer just needs to be turned off.

3. My house needs daily help, and there are some days I completely ignore it. So doing one load of laundry a day (at least) and washing dishes every day need to be a resolution.

4. The kids' school work. We're trying to get back in our groove here. Both of the girls are reading! Their bedtime story right now is Pinocchio, last month was Alice in Wonderland. We need to continue to read to them every night, and I need to stay on top of their school work. I need to work especially hard on Addie's spelling. This Summer I want to graduate two 1st graders with flying colors!

5. I need to find a way to read the whole Bible this year! There are days I've completely ignored that Book, so I need to change that! Daily prayer time is also something that needs done. I can't ignore this area of my life anymore since I can't make it to church every Sunday thanks to Wal-mart.