Coupons Coupons

I'm on a money saving adventure...couponing!  I've realized there is A LOT to it!  

1)  I have coupons from last Sunday, as well as from the internet, cut out and put in individual envelopes based on store department (i.e. frozen food, meat, cereal etc) and I have written on the outside of the envelope what coupons i have, how much and expiration.  

2)  I have made a list of every store I might possible buy from....and there is a LOT around here!  

3)  I need to make a list of websites from which I can get coupons.  

4)  I also have the circulars for all the stores....

And I've only just begun!  My friend Stacey has a 'manual' online here.

So I'm going to keep notes like this to track how I do my couponing and my results!

Oddly Enough...

I'm usually full of thoughts I have during the day, deep and thoughtful thoughts (at least in my opinion).

But today, I've got nothing. Zip, zilch, zero.

I worked ALL DAY sitting in this very chair, on my husband's website.  I set out to do MUCH more for his website, but the little but that I did took the entire day....and all of my brain.

So now I'm left with mush.

So now, I'm off, to sit and do nothing but watch TV and cuddle with my amazing husband that I adore.

It doesn't get much better than that. <3

Maybe I'll have something inspired tomorrow.

Complacent or Content?

A friend of mine on Facebook made a good point today after I posted the Phillipians verse.  There is a difference between being content and being complacent.  


To me, being complacent is being resigned to the way things are, not hoping or trying for change or for anything better.  It's not at all related to peace or joy, but more in being stuck and hopeless.


Being content, in my opinion, is resting in the joy of our salvation in Christ and our future with Him DESPITE my circumstances.  REAL joy is not a result of our circumstances, but a knowledge that our circumstance won't affect our security in HIM, and our circumstances can be used to glorify God and lead others to Him.


When circumstances aren't "ideal" or when things are outright horrible, look for God's hand.  Nothing He does or allows in our lives is arbitrary.  It is ALL for His glory and usually, if you look really close, you can see His hand.  There is joy and peace in knowing that, if for nothing else, our suffering will be used to bring Him glory and our lives can be a testimony to others of His loving kindness.


Our insignificant time on this earth has NOTHING at all to do with us and our pleasures and desires...it is ALL about THE CREATOR who created us, THE SAVIOR who redeemed us and THE SPIRIT who lives in us being glorified.  


It is my desire in all I do to be available to be used by HIM to do that!

My verse today...

Philippians 4:11-13

"...for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹² I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³ I can do all this through him who gives me strength."

New Bible Study

Today I am starting a new Bible Study.  I found it on the website www.WomenStudytheBible.com


So far it looks pretty cool.  Today is on being thankful.  It has some interactive things to do to go deeper in your study.


Phil 4:10-13
"...for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹² I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³ I can do everything through him who gives me strength."


Here is a link to it in case you'd like to check it out.
Study 1, Lesson 1

I feel so funny starting to blog again.  I was reading my old blog posts earlier and feel like I've grown up so much since then.

I started blogging in 2005!  6 1/2 years ago.  My girls were 1 and 11!  Since then I've taken up running and have run in two half marathons, moved across the country, taken up reading, quit drinking coffee, started drinking coffee again, I'm attempting to start extreme couponing, I'm homeschooling this year, my oldest daughter lost her thumb and she also found a long lost brother and aunt (hahaha..confusing if you don't 'know' us), my youngest has turned out to be one of the smartest little people i've ever known as well as one of the most, shall we say, "adventurous" (to a fault).  I've gotten a LOT of gray hairs (totally uninvited btw)....

I've also felt led to start working with girls in the Youth at church.  I feel like they are so bombarded with lies about beauty, relationships, love, modesty, and so on...I just can't stand by and watch as this generation of girls turn into a generation of women who are scarred from the mistakes of their youth and abuse of society.

I've also developed a deep relationship with my Lord, I've realized the one purpose in this life is to bring other's to Christ and glorify Him in all we do...and honestly, I believe that's the most important think I've learned in my whole entire life.  It affects everything I do, every relationship I have, and though I fail quite often...I really feel like I know why we are here and it's not about us.  That brings me comfort.

So, I don't know where this blog will go...I'm guessing there will be posts about all of the things I mentioned above.  AND I don't know who will read it.  But here I am...for some reason for weeks I've been thinking about doing this, so I'm doing it!

So, here we go.
;-)
Stephanie

Here We GOOOOOOO!

So I think I'm going to start blogging about anything and everything.....God, my venture into extreme couponing, parenting, marriage, cooking, running, reading...and anything else that pops into my little head.  I am also known for messing around with computers and I will probably end up totally messing up my template, more than once.  So here I go, maybe, jumping back into the blogesphere...

I got a lot of work to do!

It's been more than 3 years since my last post. A lot has changed in 3 years! I'm thinking of blogging again. First I guess I gotta clean up my template cuz it's a mess with all the changes in the browsers over 3 years!

:-)