Live Wholeheartedly

Like a Phoenix, redux

2011-11-29T07:51:00.004-05:00

Well, well. Here I am, again. Once again feeling like I owe someone an apology for being so neglectful of this space. Myself, more than anything. Because this is my space, a space I carved out for me, to come and unload whatever is on my mind - and there has been A LOT on my mind. It would help for me to come here, purge my thoughts...but I just don't make the time for myself to do it. That is a shame, and something I deeply need to rectify. I tend to internalize my feelings way too much...which would come as a surprise to some, since I talk so much. I just tend to not let people peek into the dark and twisty of it all, most of the time. Not that I want to only be dark and twisty here (can you tell I love Grey's Anatomy? I'm so unoriginal!), and not that all my hidden feelings ARE that way. I just have a lot to say, and usually I have deep ongoing conversations with myself in my head...I just wish I could motivate myself to log in and type those thoughts out here. It might be mostly boring, but sometimes it can get pretty interesting in there.

So, at least I can console myself that this time it has not been over a year since my last post. Is that sad or what, to congratulate myself on it only being 8 months?? Or, closer to 9 really but who's counting? But again, as last time, many things have happened over the last year.

First and foremost, our adoption is STILL not yet final. More snags, this time all to do with the state not having filed for my son's SSI back years ago when they should have. He is autistic, and was supposed to already have been approved for SSI, which automatically qualifies him for federal adoption assistance. Unfortunately, that never happened even though it was marked in his file that it did - and if you know anything about the government and disability, you know it takes forever (plus one day for good measure) to get anything approved as far as that is concerned. So we waited...and waited. Fortunately or unfortunately (you can look at it both ways), our 3 youngest have been in the foster system for 5 years as of November 9th, and once kids are in the system for a consecutive 5 year period, they automatically qualify for federal assistance. So on November 9th, we went ahead with the adoption without waiting for the SSI approval. We were worried that our promise of adoption in 2011 would once again prove to be untrue...but alas...with a wonderful caseworker and adoption attorney on our side - everything was pushed through VERY quickly, and we have our adoption hearing on December 9th!! It will be a VERY Merry Christmas this year! FINALLY! Our kids will legally be ours. No more monthly visits, no more different last names causing odd looks...FINALLY! My Facebook friends better watch out on December 9th, because that afternoon 2 years of memories I haven't been able to share with them, oh how they will be shared now (insert scary laugh here)!

Another thing I want to talk about is my dad's cancer. It's been a long road this year for my dad, but finally he is feeling better. Thank God above, he can enjoy -truly enjoy - the holidays this year. He is not feeling sick, in fact is feeling better than he has in a long time. This isn't due to some miracle cure, sadly, but at least a temporary miracle nonetheless. You see, he had a bone marrow transplant this summer. It was a hard process for him - I can't go into details because for one, it was so much a blur of scary but also...it's still hard to think about all he went through. But at any rate, it was done, weeks in the hospital and months afterward of feeling bad...but I am glad to say he is now in remission. We don't know how long, and quite frankly, I don't want to know. I just want to enjoy it. I won't forget about the cancer or the prognosis, it will still be there lurking in the back of my mind...but I think seeing my dad looking healthy and feeling good again - and happy because he's feeling good - will help me to not thing predominantly about the "C" word, and just be able to enjoy the time we spend with him.

Amidst all that was going on with my dad this summer, and actually WHILE he was in the hospital recovering from the bone marrow transplant, we lost a very special part of our family. My husband's grandmother, or Nonnie, as we called her. Words can't express what she meant to me and she deserves more than just a paragraph in this update, so I will save that conversation for later...but losing her has left a strikingly large hole in our lives.

Obviously there has been a lot more go on in the last year than those few things, but those are the "big" things that have weighed on my mind over the last year.

On a happier note, although I don't want to rush what is left of this year since we are now in the midst of my very favorite time of the year, I am looking forward to what I just know will be a FABULOUS year for my family. We already have many things in motion that will happen in 2012, and being that it is the first year we will start out as a full, complete family (legally anyway), I think that sets the tone for a year with good things on the horizon. I don't want to jinx myself, but it does look like (praise God!) financially things are going to be looking way, way up for us next year. There is also a vacation to Hawaii in the works...and I am hoping to be able to get back to discuss that more in depth later. It's something we're so excited about...the trip of a lifetime for us that has been a 'dream in the works' for over 14 years now.

So at that, I would love to say "stay tuned"...but I don't want to leave you hanging on promises that may not come to be. But hopefully, you will see a lot more from me in the coming year.

Love and peace,
Mariah

Like a Phoenix from the Ashes

2011-02-04T13:05:00.004-05:00

You thought I was gone right? Never to return. I'm sure you've seen it many times...a blogger who just can't find the time to write, eventually drifting off into the great unknown, all but forgotten by everyone.

Well, I have returned. I make no grand promises as to this blog of mine...I've made that mistake before. But I am still here. I do still have a lot to say. I just need to learn to take time for myself, so that I can say it.

Life has been crazy. Insane. A brief update...and then hopefully I'll be able to keep up from there. There were 2 major events since the last time I wrote. Not by a long shot all that has happened but the things that have most affected me, for sure.

In December of 2009, I wrote about how we had gone from a family of 3 to a family of 6 and that in the year 2010 our 3 "new" kids would be officially adopted and part of our forever family.

Well, our not-so-"new" kids are doing really well...we are all still adjusting to life with each other. That will be on-going I'm sure. But we are a family now, with all the bumps and bruises and hugs and kisses to prove it. Just not the paperwork. You see, although they were supposed to be adopted in 2010...they weren't. It just didn't happen...the boys (10 & 9) have a lot of issues, one has autism and one with a LOT of emotional problems. However, "for real" this time, they will be adopted in 2011. We are filing the paperwork this month, and although we were told it could take up to 5 months to finalize, they WILL be adopted this year. It will be nice to have things finalized, although to us, at this point it is just a piece of paper which will say what we already know.

The other thing that happened...is the hardest thing for me. I have still not dealt with all of my emotions surrounding this, and I think that is in part why I felt the strong urge to come back to my blog. I need to have somewhere to go, somewhere I can say how I truly feel without worrying about how someone else is going to take it. Almost 2 years ago, in April 2009, I wrote about how they had found a tumor in my dad's brain. How it wasn't cancerous. How we were all happy about that and were adjusting to life as it would be - with my dad having radiation treatments and then lifelong monitoring of his brain to be sure the tumor wasn't growing. The tumor shrunk and we all moved on, although it was "a new normal" for us. It made me realize the frailty of life, and the fact that my parents truly weren't going to be around forever.

This year that fact was hit home even harder, with a much more forceful awakening. My dad was diagnosed with Mantle Cell Lymphoma, a rare form of Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma which makes up only something like 5% of all cases. The VA has said that it is related to his exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam. The life expectancy of MCL is only on average about 4 years, but it could be a few more or a few less. Nothing they can do will extend that, barring some new treatment becoming available in the next few years. This has been so hard to come to terms with. It's still hard to even think about, and I don't think the full realization of it has hit me yet. My dad is dying...and I can't even say those words out loud. It's hard enough just to type them without backspacing and erasing them from the page. As though it would erase them from being true...I wish it would. I wish there was a backspace key so I could edit that stupid disease from my dad's body. But for now, until some brilliant scientist comes up with a medical backspace key that will save my dad...I am going to have to learn to enjoy every day I have left with him and make the most of it. I don't necessarily think I've taken my family for granted a lot...but this has shown me that every day with them is precious. You may think you have all the time in the world with someone, but you just don't. You just never know when some tragedy will take away someone - it could be a cancer diagnosis that might give them a few years, or a car wreck that will take them away tomorrow. Hold the people you love tightly, let them know they love you every day. That is the lesson I'm learning, I just wish it wasn't such a tough one.

Until next time...Love,
Mariah

Mission: Possible? Easter on a Budget...

2010-03-14T13:17:00.009-04:00

I have never really budgeted for most holidays before. With one child, I was just able to spend what I could, and stop when I had to. With 4 children, however, holidays definitely present a whole new challenge, with the latest being Easter of course. I can't just pick things up randomly until I feel there's enough anymore...I have to be fair, make sure everyone has the same amount of goodies in their basket. This means deciding on a budget and splitting it accordingly. This is the hard part for me. Because I've never paid attention to how much I've spent before on one basket, I don't know what's a realistic amount to spend on 4. Since we are trying to be much more budgeted and smart with our money this year (with goals of a Disney vacation and paying off some credit cards), I am also trying to limit it and not go overboard as I have tended to do in the past.

The other thing I'm taking into consideration with our budget this month, is that I would really like to purchase a Wii Fit Plus, to help with one of our other goals of getting healthier this year. So, after taking that into account I settled on a budget of $100 - $150 for all 4 baskets. It's all relative and that might seem like a fortune to you, or it might seem like a pittance, but it is what I decided we can comfortably work with. My goal, or mission as you will, is going to be to stick to the lower end at $100. That is $25 for each kids' basket and has to include the basket, grass and all goodies that will be included. I am going to make a game out of it...trying to find the least expensive but most usable items I can. I have vowed to buy none of that crap filler that ends up at the bottom of the toy bin...you know what I mean! Yes they make cheap fillers and filling their basket with cheap crap would go a long way towards making my goal, easily. But I do not want any more "junk" in our house that ends up in the garage sale or goodwill pile, never used.

I will also not be wasting my hard-working dollars on Easter-ized items that are more expensive than their "normal" counterparts. A prime example of what I'm talking about are the Bunny-head or Egg shaped sidewalk chalk for $2-3, which is cute and useable, but regular sidewalk chalk (which I plan on including because my kids LOVE it) is only $2 for a much larger variety. Yes the kids might ooh & ahh over the cute shape, but I have a feeling they'd much rather have more chalk, and in more colors in the long run.

So that is my mission...the money is now burning a hole in my wallet so I will start picking things up over the next few days/weekends. I will definitely be posting how I do...good or bad. Stay tuned!

Love,

Mariah

Better Late Than Never...

2010-02-22T09:47:00.005-05:00

A little later than I hoped, but here are pics of the Valentine projects my BFF Jessie and I made for our peoples this year! We altered the large size Starbucks Frappuccino bottles into pretty candy jars, and made Cookie Bouquets! It was so much fun! We also made a 'prescription bottle' up for our husbands...used large prescription bottles and made fun labels for their "perscription for love", and filled them with Red Hot Hearts :-) For some reason we didn't get a pic of those...but you get the idea, I'm sure! Jessie and I had a blast putting them together (always lots of fun and giggles!!), and the recipients all loved them, so it was a total success all-around:

Hope you all had a wonderful Valentines with your favorite people! I know I did :)

Altered Frappuccino Spa Gift Set

2010-01-30T12:07:00.016-05:00

I made this for a friends' 30th Birthday. Today is her party, and since I needed something for her anyway, I figured why not go ahead and try my hand at making an altered frappuccino gift now? This way I can work out any kinks before I start my Christmas projects. But suprisingly - no real kinks to work out - this was a lot of fun! What do you think?

The picture above shows the contents of the bottles. L-R is Wild Berry Bath Salts, Milk Bath, Wild Berry Sugar Scrub and of course, what is pampering without good Chocolate?

I think it turned out fantastic...better than I'd imagined for my first try :) I really hope she likes it.

Tomorrow more craftiness will be had, as I'm going over to my friend Jessie's house to start some Valentine projects for our kids...and maybe a little something for our hubbys too? ;-) Check Jessie out over at her I Feel Crafty blog. She's amazing...she makes such beautiful things!!

By the way, Jessie...I've been getting ready to come over...

That's not even all of it...are you clearing out room for me?? Haha...oh and are you wondering what that green inferno is looming in the back of the picture? It's your Christmas pressie, of course! I told you I'd get it to you before Valentines... :-)

Until next time - Love!

Mariah

Altered gift ideas I'll be working on for Christmas 2010

2009-12-30T08:13:00.007-05:00

This first idea...altered Starbucks Frappucino bottles...is one that is on my list to make for teachers, co-workers and our neighbors next year. Usually I do baked goods/candies for both our neighbors and teachers, but since I am swearing off most of my usual Christmas baking next year (a little sadly, because I do love it...but for good reason), to make it a little less stressful while getting ready for both Christmas and a vacation to Disney - these will fill in quite nicely, I think. Still homemade, unique and heartfelt :) Plus, we usually take our neighbors their gifts on the morning of Christmas Eve...since we'll not be there Christmas Eve I was trying to think of something we could give a week before that they would be able to enjoy in the week leading up to Christmas...I saw an idea on another blog using these for a hot chocolate gift "basket". The best thing is that although I won't want to fill the jars too far in advance, I can have them all decorated up and ready to fill wayyy ahead of time, so that all I have to do before I hand them out is fill the jars, which shouldn't take any time at all! I am also thinking of using the same idea but changing it up a little to be some sort of 'pamper' gift...something like homemade milk bath in one bottle, bath salts in one and shower scrub in the 3rd...then maybe leaving the 4th jar out and putting a scrubbie or something in the 4th section? Come to think of it that might make a good teacher gift instead of the hot chocolate...hmmm! Things to think about. I will have to figure out exactly who will get what kind before I decorate them but I have already started collecting the 4-packs of Frap drinks for this project. Who knows...while working on them the creative juices might get flowing and give me even more ideas for others on my list.

Here is a pic of the one another blogger made:

This cute set was made by http://pixelsnpaper.blogspot.com/. What an adorable inspiration!!

Another idea I am working on for my Sister in Law and her Hubby is an altered Family Scrabble Board. It will look something like this, although with different wording and their last name will be the "center" word that I build the other words off of:

Unfortunately, I saved this picture a long time ago and do not remember where I got it to give credit to the creative person who made this - but whoever/wherever you are - thank you for the beautiful idea!!

So far that is all I've found that I'm working on...except making fleece sleepmasks and pajama pants for my 4 kids that are Disney themed...I don't have any pictures of inspiration on those yet though because I haven't looked for patterns/ideas yet. I just know it's something I will be doing. I will post other ideas and pictures of my finished projects as I come up with them.

God bless and Happy New Year!
Mariah

Relax, Refresh & Renew

2009-12-28T08:47:00.002-05:00

I sit here at my computer, thinking about my blog and realizing it was almost this exact same time last year that I thought starting a blog back up was a great idea. Now here it is...a year later...and I've made a seriously pathetic number of posts so far. I started this blog as a way to remind myself to be motivated, be creative, be inspired...maybe even to help keep my goals. I still want this blog to represent that...and everything about life that I love so much - God, family, home, writing, crafting - living my life to the fullest. Enjoying every moment and hoping that I make the people in my circle feel as blessed as they make me feel.

There are reasons...or excuses...as to why I have neglected to post - we really have had a very busy and very productive (!) year. We went from a family of 3 to a family of 6 almost overnight. That all started about mid-year...right after we were licensed to be foster parents. We started on the fostering journey thinking eventually we might adopt a child, maybe even two that came into our care along the way. That all changed pretty suddenly when 3 little blessings came our way, and the only way I can describe how it all happened is that it was meant to be...pre-destined, pre-determined...God's plan for our life. Everything that happend was simply too unbelievable, too coincidental to have happened by some happy accident. These 3 kids were meant to become a part of our family, from the very beginning...all roads have led us here. I know this. So...now our happy little family of 3 is a happier, larger (and of course, busier) family of 6. The 4 kids we always dreamed of but knew we could never have...well now we have them. Life is good, God is amazing.

So now, here I am...seemingly back to where I started. Right after Christmas, vowing next Christmas I will be more prepared, ready ahead of time and have made most of our family gifts. That didn't happen for this Christmas - but I am even more determined than ever to make that happen next Christmas. I realized this Christmas just how hectic it is and how fast it goes with 4 kids...so much faster than it went with just our daughter. I think I took for granted her first 11 Christmases, the calm, the time we were able to spend together just enjoying the season. Things sure went differently between work, therapy appointments, doctor appointments, shopping for more gifts than I've ever imagined buying for one occassion. And although next year we will also be busy, decidedly so, at Christmas...that is pushing me even more to vow that I will be 95% ready for Christmas by December 1st (5% reserved for baking which can't really be done that far in advance, haha). The reason we need to be ready so early? Because over the week of Christmas, to celebrate the first Christmas after finalizing the adoptions, we will be on a family vacation to Disney World! I am so excited about that...and want everything to go smoothly. The first 5 days of vacation will be spent at the parks, and the last 2 relaxing and enjoying each other. We plan to drive to the coast and spend Christmas Eve watching the sun set over the Gulf. So you see...I really do need to be more organized, more productive and more prepared for 2010. I have set several goals and I am hoping that I can see most of them to fruition.

Goals for 2010
Lose 5lbs (or more) per month
Continue to pay down debt
Save for and plan Disney Christmas Vacation
Work on Christmas gifts for 1 'family' ('family' here means any set group of people, ie teachers) on our list each month
Have all Christmas gifts made or bought by December 1, 2010

I will have to get creative and really push myself to make sure I meet these goals...usually I rely heavily on home-made goodies (candies, cookies, etc) as gifts for friends, family and teachers - however having to have all things made by December 1st that really will limit food gifts this year. I will still probably do a few things but I want December to mainly be un-scheduled and un-stressful, so I won't be doing very many food-gifts at all. I have come up with a few ideas though - I have a really neat idea for my Sister in Law and her husband...a "Family Scrabble Board" where you take and alter a scrabble board with scrapbooking supplies and use the tiles to spell out their names, and words that symbolize 'family'. I think it will be really neat. I also found an idea for altering Starbucks 4-pack Frap bottles...you can do so many things using scrapbooking supplies and a little paint and ribbon, they turn out so cute. I have seen ideas for hot cocoa gift sets using those (two bottles filled with hot cocoa mix, one with marshmallows, and one with peppermints) which is something I'm definitely planning on doing...the only thing I would have to do *after* December 1st on those would be add the marshmallows (wouldn't want to add them too early and have them get stale or clumpy...eww). I also make a killer chai tea mix so I am thinking I could come up with some ideas along those lines also, just have to figure out what to package with it. Maybe just some festive store-bought christmas candies? The one other idea I am excited about is making fleece pajama pants. I am definitely making them for my 4 kids, my SIL's 4 kids and also my cousins 3 kids. I might even think about making them for some adults on our list. I have tons of ideas saved in a folder in my e-mail, so I will be going through those over the next month or so to see if there are any good things to add to my list also. I'm pretty excited about this right now...I just hope that I can stay this excited/motivated about it! If I can, then I'm sure I will be more than ready for Christmas 2010 and our Disney Vacation well ahead of my December 1st goal :)

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. For me, although hectic and crazy, and except for a few not-so-great moments, it was one of the most wonderful Christmases yet.

God Bless and have a happy and SAFE New Year!
Mariah

Change is in the Air...

2009-09-15T13:02:00.003-04:00

Big things are happening right now, but I don't want to jinx myself by saying too much. Let's just say that perhaps some day soon our house might be getting a whole lot noisier...

Stay Tuned!

Love,
Mariah

Gains and Losses

2009-08-11T22:35:00.002-04:00

I'm coming to a sad realization about my life...for too long I have been the 'people pleaser' or the 'peacekeeper'...'pushover' would be the non politically-correct way of saying it, really...practically letting people walk all over me just so they wouldn't think I'm not a nice person. I don't know what happened, but when I hit 30 I think I started taking back my life a little. I am still a nice person...that is just me and I wouldn't ever want to change that. If you are my friend, I will give you anything or do anything for you if it is within my power. But the walking-over-me part has gotten old, and I've started to tire of it. I've started to speak my mind. Not all the time, but when something has really been bothering me or when it really matters.

In doing this, in gaining this newfound self-empowerment...or self-respect (as opposed to respect for everyone BUT myself...respect is a fine line and I'm learning if you don't respect yourself you're not REALLY respecting anyone else either...you're just being their doormat disguised as being respectful), I have found I am losing in another way...a couple of (so I thought) really good friendships. Although my husband would say if that's the case they weren't true friendships to begin with...I don't know. I always thought they were. I loved them as family. But perhaps your friends get so conditioned to you being at their beck & call, with no return requirement, they don't understand you when you suddenly become this different person, who is actually better...but they can't compute that fact. Can't compute that I'm being a person now who is good for ME, and as my friend they should want that. Even if it requires for them to be there for ME sometimes now, and that I now make that point clear. In fact they used to comment on how I SHOULD stand up for myself more.

I guess it's kind of like the skinny friend who is all for you getting healthy and losing weight until you actually start losing weight and they try to (subconciously) sabatoge you...because they are really comfortable with who you are, and your dynamic, and are scared of the change.

Don't get me wrong, I haven't gotten mean or aggressive or even disagreeable. I still try to be nice when I'm pointing out that I don't like something or that I need something...but it is change and I guess for some, it isn't good. It is hard to have friends completely stop communicating with you simply because you point out (in a too-nice, almost apologetic way) that the friendship runs two ways...and that if you really miss me like you say, you can come see me too.

But maybe if you drive on a one-way street long enough, and become conditioned to no oncoming traffic, a crash is inevitible when you try to make that turn onto the highway.

Time is just not on my side...

2009-08-06T12:14:00.004-04:00

Obviously there has been a lack of activity on this blog for a while. It isn't that I have nothing to say - I have a lot to say...just very little time lately in which to say it.

I don't want to jinx myself by saying too much...but things are looking interesting on the foster/adoption front :) We are approved, and have been contacted about a sibling group that is up for adoption...we should know more in a week or so (I hope)!

On all other fronts, it's summer - so of course life is busy :) Weekends have been full of family, friends and lots of fun...weekdays have been full of work, work and more work (and a little fun thrown in for good measure!). Getting ready for school to start up again, getting the foster room finished...which it almost is! The interior is completely drywalled, taped & mudded...it's just waiting for a coat of primer and then paint. I am hoping to get to that Sunday (we'll be out of town this weekend, visiting the sibling-in-laws for my nephew(aka baked bean)'s birthday. My neices and nephews are all beans :) There's Kidney Bean, Baked Bean, String Bean and Pinto Bean, and they all fit their bean nicknames quite well in their own little way :) My sweet beans ;)

Speaking of the siblings-in-law...or my brothers sister & family if you rather...we have decided recently that we are going to take our 2 families on a Magical Family Christmas Vacation in 2010! Where, you ask? Well, of course, the only place magical enough to spend Christmas away from home - Disney World!! So, lookout Magic Kingdom...we'll be invading your village in about 16 months...give or take a few weeks :) Color me excited! I have already started perusing the Disboards, and creating our trip planning binder. Oh, and of course, getting some great tips on saving money for Disney over at Couponing to Disney! She's amazing!! So far our family has about $35 in savings so far (saving our change only) for the World...not too shabby considering we still have almost a year and a half to go - and that we're not 'officially' starting the saving until next year!

Ok - I think that's all for now! See ya real soon :)
Mariah

The Boys are Back in Town

2009-06-22T08:00:00.003-04:00

These boys, to be exact :-) They'll be in Indiana June 28th, and I got tickets to see them!! Woot!! I am so excited about this...you can't even imagine! I am seeing them for the 4th time, and this time they're going to be back where it all began (for me)...at Deer Creek Music Center (now known as Verizon Wireless Music Center). I had lawn tickets back then, I have lawn tickets now.

My sister-in-law is going, along with a friend of mine and a friend of hers. It is going to be a BLAST! The lawn tix aren't the best seats of course, but they were cheap, which is the only way I was able to go...but I consider myself lucky to go at all - especially after just seeing Keith Urban in concert on the 7th. We sat up close & personal for that one, which wasn't cheap - so to be able, a few weeks later, to see the New Kids on the Block...my first musical love...I am a blessed girl.

Sure, I'll have some fan-envy going on for all the lucky girls who get to sit up close...just like I did when their cruise rolled around and I was left land-locked - but I'll remind myself that I am lucky to be there at all, and with some great friends on top of it, and it will be an amazing memory which will last a lifetime!

Peace Out! :-)

Mariah

Happy Father's Day!

2009-06-21T13:10:00.006-04:00

Happy Fathers Day to all the Fathers in my life:

My Dad

Father of my child

Father-in-law

Step-Father-in-law

Love to all,

Mariah

Experiment Non-Update

2009-06-18T15:34:00.000-04:00

So yes…I said I would update on how we’re doing using the methods in “Have a New Kid by Friday”, and haven’t (surprise!). But really, there has been nothing to update. Monday, our first day using the “New Kid” method (I like that, I think that’s how I’ll refer to it from now on. It has nothing to do with how much I love the New Kids on the Block. Absolutely nothing), we couldn’t test the 1st phase which is: “Say it once, turn your back and walk away”. She was an absolute angel - no backtalk, no attitude, and she even went above and beyond her normal ‘everyday’ chores and swept the entire house and cleaned the windows! What did she want, you might ask (I know I did!)? Well, we’ve yet to figure that out - because she hasn’t asked us for a thing! So, then there’s Tuesday, which has 3 parts: “Let reality be the teacher”, “Respond, rather than react” and “B doesn’t happen until A is completed”. We didn’t get to try those out either - because Tuesday went very smoothly as well.

We’ll see how tonight goes I guess - not that I am wishing for mis-behavior by any means! At only 2 days in with no behavior issues to even experiment with, anyone reading this probably is thinking “What are you even using this book for??”…but let me assure you - my daughter definitely does have her moments. Although they may be few, they can be pretty ugly - and those are the moments I want to learn to handle better. We have been pretty lucky so far - but I know the older she gets the more frequently the “ugly” is going to happen if we don’t do something about it now. Plus, as I said before - since we are going to start fostering soon (and I mean, it might be actually really soon (!!) because our home study was completed and turned into our caseworker yesterday! Woohoo!), and I’d like to have some of these skills under my belt so that I can better handle situations worse than those I currently have to deal with do come up.

I will definitely keep you posted, when there’s something to keep you posted about J

God Bless,
Mariah

Have a New Kid by Friday - Book Experiment

2009-06-15T12:10:00.001-04:00

A few days ago, a friend of mine lent me a book titled "Have a New Kid by Friday", by Dr. Kevin Leman. She had been having some issues with her son, and her mother-in-law bought her the book. She read through it and although she wasn't so keen on the idea of her mother-in-law buying her a parenting book she thought it made sense and said she immediately started seeing a difference in her son's behavior when she started implementing the tools learned with the book. I asked her if I could borrow it, not because we'd been having any major issues with our daughter like she'd been having with her son - but more because we'd been having some small issues (lying, mouthiness, vanity issues, etc) that I am afraid could turn into big issues if we don't handle them now…and the methods we have been using thus far have not been working (grounding, lecturing, etc.). She has always been an extremely good kid, and that I’m thankful for - so I really truly don’t want a “new kid” - but a little help in how to deal with the changes she’s going through would be good.

If it works like it says it will, I would also like to start implementing it now so that when we do have foster children come into our home we already have methods we are comfortable with, and in agreement on, in place to deal with anything that might come up. It might help some of the transitional issues that come along with fostering if this book is as good as all the reviews I’ve read say it is.

So I already read the book once through, quickly the first time - it was easy to read and actually was very interesting and hard to put down. Maybe I can learn a few skills to make me a better parent…not that I am a bad one by any means - but I do wish I would be able to handle some situations better than I currently do. And the book explains, and I agree, that a child’s behavioral “issues” are more a parents issues in not knowing how to deal with misbehavior. Children learn what they live, right? I have always believed that…yet I find myself so upset with my daughter when she is stubborn or when she thinks she’s ‘always right’. However, thought it might have been a fleeting thought before - this book has made it abundantly clear that she gets some of those things from me. She gets a few things from her father, too. We both have realized after talking about the book - even before implementing any changes - that we need to change our OWN attitudes, behaviors and responses so that she can learn new attitudes, behaviors and responses. Hopefully this book has given us the tools to do that.

Anyway…it’s Monday…a new week, and since the book doles out its chapters by days of the week - I am going to start re-reading it, along with my husband, on the car ride home from work - one chapter per day of the week. That way we can start using each step and each tool on a daily basis as we learn them. I don’t know if it will create a new kid - or new parents - by Friday…but I do have faith that it can work if we are consistent and follow the steps, because they do make sense. I have read about so many people who have had an incredible turn-around in their families by following the steps in this book. So we are starting today. I am writing about it because I consider our family a ‘typical’ every-day family - and if we can do this, if it works for us, than I am convinced it can work for anyone who sets their mind to it. If it doesn’t, well I want to share that too, so that if it happens to not work for someone else maybe they’ll know they’re not the only dark spot among the multitude of glowing reviews.

I am hoping to post daily with an update as to how the previous day went…what went wrong, what went right, etc. By the end of the week…I will blog about how I feel about the book after trying it out for a week…hopefully my review and results will be as astounding as the others I have read! So here we go…our little parenting experiment. It seems funny to be trying to change my parenting style when my child is almost 12, but it’s never too late right?

God Bless,
Mariah

Come Together, Right Now...Over Me

2009-05-26T19:47:00.002-04:00

The home study was this afternoon - it went very smooth, no unexpected surprises. The lady who came to the house was very nice and easy to talk to so that helped! Now it's just waiting for the review. I have my CPR/First Aid class this Saturday and that should be it as far as certification goes.

The lady did write us down for an opening of 3 - even though the 3rd bedroom is not built yet. She was satisfied when we told her it would be built by the end of June - so that is out of the way. I thought we'd have to be certified only for 1, and then be re-certified with another home visit for the additional 2 once the room was completed.

On another positive note - we have sold the concert tickets! We now have enough to begin construction on the bedroom and I am hoping if we can get the supplies inexpensively - we may even have enough to finish it. We need a lot fewer supplies (2X4s & drywall) than we originally estimated it seems - so hopefully the budgeted amount we came up with is a little high and we can get the walls up with the sale of the tickets. Then we have some eBay items going up over the next week, and a pretty large garage sale over the weekend of June 6th which coincides with our town festival (which is a huge weekend for garage sale hunters also) - so hopefully the auctions and garage sale will net enough to buy the beds, bedding and paint that we need to get the room ready to be lived in.

I'm starting to get really excited, and I can't wait to see where this journey is going to lead us in our lives.

Love,
Mariah

Extreme Makeover Blog Edition

2009-05-23T19:10:00.002-04:00

So I'm trying out a new template I found. I wanted something a little more me - and I like this image and the layout is "ok". I am still looking, but for now this is better than it was...I think? I need something more "me" and since I don't know how to create my own (I used to know a little HTML but that was years ago and although I still know a (very) few basics, I have to say it is NOT like riding a bike!!) and right now I don't want to pay for a custom template (saving money for a few more important things right now ;)), then I guess I can't be too entirely picky. This one will work until I find one that "fits" better.

Opinions??

Oh, and hey - I'm on twitter... www.twitter.com/thewindismariah

Mariah

Impossible

2009-05-22T12:08:00.002-04:00

Our daughter is going to be a middle-schooler. We just had her orientation last night. It doesn't seem possible that she is old enough. I blinked. I blinked and she is a pre-teen. I don't want to blink again...the next time she will be fixing her veil...then holding her firstborn. It's impossible to think that she has been in our lives almost 12 years. It is impossible that of the short 18 years we have with her until she becomes an adult, almost 2/3 of that time has already passed. It seems like yesterday I was holding that tiny little 4 lb. bundle of pink blankets. It's so bittersweet to see the young lady she is growing into.

And oh, how the years go by
And oh, how the love brings tears to my eyes

Mariah

12 Short Years

2009-05-17T09:29:00.002-04:00

Today is our 12th anniversary. It seems like we were just married a few years ago...not double-digit years ago. It's crazy. I guess time really does fly when you're having fun, and when you're in love! So, "Happy Anniversary, Baby! I love you!"

And what a great anniversary present we received, we finished our Foster Training yesterday!! We finally got our fingerprints done Thursday, after much ado...and our home visit is scheduled for a week from Tuesday...so things finally seem to be moving along.

Well...I'm not going to spend all day on the computer on my anniversary...so everyone have a wonderful Sunday :)

Much love,
Mariah

A New Normal

2009-05-05T12:24:00.002-04:00

We finally, after weeks of waiting, got the results from my dad's biopsy. The tumor was graded a 2, low-grade, benign tumor. While that is wonderful, WONDERFUL news - it doesn't erase the fact that there is a tumor the size of a golf ball in his brain...which will have to be dealt with. It's also a recurring type of tumor, so that will mean life-long monitoring to make sure they catch any new ones. But, it is NOT cancer. So...we're mostly back to normal. It's just a new kind of normal, where my dad has a recurring type of brain tumor. It's still weird to say, hard to imagine, and makes me sad to think of. But, it is NOT cancer.

On the foster care front, things are going. Not smoothly, mind you, but they are going nonetheless. We had our first training class on Saturday. We can only do the 3-in-a-row Saturday classes which are 7 1/2 hours long...so it's tiring and makes the weekend go really fast - but it is interesting and informative and so far we've met some great people.

On the way home from our first class, however, our van decided to suddenly stop shifting. It still drives, but only in one gear...so we were able to get it home and tonight will be able to drive it to the dealership - the manual says that this is a safety feature which automatically kicks in when something is wrong with the tranny so that it will still be drivable to get it to a service station. So, that's good I guess...maybe that little safety feature will help us not have to buy a totally new transmission. But, on the downside, no matter how much it costs to fix it has to come out of the money we were going to be putting in our foster fund...$200 that my mom and dad just gave us for our foster fund for an anniversary/birthday present, and another couple hundred from the extra paychecks at the end of May. I have a feeling most of that money is now going to have to pay for the van to be fixed. But, we have to have a vehicle - it's a non-decision. We will just have to really get with it and start listing on eBay (so far I haven't listed much of what I have), and hope that some of that stuff sells. We also have a yard sale coming up in June, which is town-wide, so that should boost the foster fund at least a little. If we could just sell those darned concert tickets, we would be able to build the bedroom...which is the biggest hurdle right now. That part we need to be done to be licensed. After that it is just finding beds & bedding, etc, which we can do with our extra paychecks in July (thank goodness for 5-pay months!).

Oh, and if anyone wants to check out my eBay auctions (they will be there soon, I promise!!), which will include girl clothing, plus-size women's clothing, and some miscellaneous items - my eBay user id is mom-n-michaela.

Thanks for stopping by - and thank you for the prayers for my dad - they definitely worked!

Mariah

The One About Life Coming to a Screeching Halt

2009-04-16T16:14:00.002-04:00

For the last year, my dad has been having recurring headaches. They come on fast, are super painful, and then go away just as fast as they came. My mom had done some research and she decided she thought they were cluster headaches - they fit the description pretty well. So my dad went to the doctor, who did some routine testing and put him on some medication that was helping with the pain of the pain of the headaches, but not lessening them at all.

He kept going back to the doctor, who kept running tests...in the meantime he was also applying with the VA, as he's been laid off from his job, and in checking into insurance possibilities was told he should be going through the VA for any health issues.He had always thought the VA was only for "retired" veterans, and because he was drafted into service during Vietnam and honorably discharged after his service he isn't considered a"retired" veteran. Come to find out, he qualifies - he started the application process.

Meanwhile the doctor he was seeing sent him for an MRI. The MRI showed a small(ish) spot on his brain, which the doctor wasn't all that concerned about. He said it could be from a recent fall, or even something that had been there since he was a child. Of course, my dad having been in Vietnam and all of the physical "altercations" he had been in throughout his teenage years (it was the 60's...what else did you do for fun, right?), it was basically just a mild concern. The doctor scheduled him for another MRI in 6 months, just "to be sure"it wasn't growing.

Skip to this year...and he was just recently approved for the VA benefits. He'd had a couple appointments with the local VA hospital, and they decided that although it hasn't been a full 6 months - since he was still having the headaches - to go ahead and do the follow-up MRI.

It grew. My dad has a brain tumor. The doctor at this point thought low-grade astrocytoma...which was on the 'not so bad' side of things.

The past week has been spent (for me) realizing that my tough, military, non-emotional dad really isn't invincible. It was so heart wrenching for me to see my dad cry. I have seen him choked up while visiting the moving Vietnam Wall, or watching a particularly "real" movie about the aftermath of Vietnam on a soldier. But never, never have I seen a tear. There was a roller coaster of emotions for him, and we were afraid the anti-seizure medication they put him on was causing him serious depression, so much so that the doctor prescribed an anti-depressant, and all firearms were removed from the house temporarily. The whole thing has been entirely too ridiculous for me to wrap my head around, although I know people go through this every day. I just don't know how they come to terms with it.

Yesterday, the entire day was spent at the hospital with my mother, my husband, my brother and my sister-in-law. Waiting on my dad to get out of surgery. SURGERY. That is what they consider a biopsy of the brain. Because, well, it's a brain.

He came out well, in fact in pretty good spirits (I think he was very worried about them drilling into his brain, which, who wouldn't be?). The tumor however? Not so well. The doctor now believes he was correct that it was an astorcytoma but thinks that it is more of a mid-grade instead of low-grade. They grade on a 1-4 scale...originally it was guessed that the tumor was a 1-2...now it is estimated at a possibly 2, likely 3. 4 is the worst, so you can imagine how I feel about a 3. Words like radiation and oncologist were being thrown around, although to me it just sounded like "cancer! cancer! cancer!". I don't even know how to cope with this, I hope learning more about it will help with that part. We won't know for sure the grading for a couple of days while they examine the tissue.

We are praying it's a 2. If you happen by this blog in the next week...I'd really love it if you would pray for a 2 as well.

God Bless,
Mariah

A Lesson in Faith

2009-03-25T12:21:00.003-04:00

I should have known, before I hit "post" yesterday. I was having a down day, I really was. My faith was being overshadowed by doubt. I should have known better. I am still learning.

Today we called the Vet to see how much it would be to get the cats shots up-to-date. While my husband called, he also asked (for future information) how much getting them fixed would be. They gave him a quote, plus the quote to get their shots up-to-date. It really wasn't that much more (when you figure in separate office visits, etc.) to have it all done at once...but when my husband explained that we really could only afford to do the shots right now, what was *truly* necessary, the lady told him she could try to approve us for a Care Credit account. Now, I realize, putting vet/medical bills on a credit account is probably not the best idea - BUT, we were approved, and were approved for 0% interest as long as it's paid off within a certain number of months (which it would be). So, the cats are taken care of - one thing checked off the to-do list before turning in our application. The only other real obstacle in getting the paperwork turned in of course would be our physicals...which is now not an obstacle either because while perusing Care Credit's homepage - I see that there are doctors in our area that take it also.

So- although it isn't normally something I would do - putting medical bills onto a credit account, the 0% interest really makes all the difference. This way instead of putting our application on hold until we build up the money in our savings (we just started having $100/month direct deposited into our savings account), we can get it taken care of now and still pay it off with the money in the savings account...so I'm looking at it as essentially the same thing, however with a big bonus in that it won't delay our application process.

Now all we have to worry about is getting the Foster Home Fund built up so we can turn our loft area into a bedroom, but at least we have a little more time for that (I was told that it didn't matter in our state if it was officially a bedroom or not - so if that's true, while I still plan on turning it into a "real" bedroom, we can go ahead and get our license and everything before it's officially "completed"). I am still hoping however that we can sell those concert tickets and frame out/drywall the room before the end of May. That would be a big weight off of my mind!

Until next time - God Bless :)
Mariah

Roadblocks

2009-03-24T12:15:00.002-04:00

While filling out the forms in our referral packet - I discovered that all 3 of us will need to make Doctor appointments for wellness physicals. Normally, not such a big deal right? But, when you have no health insurance (long story), then it becomes a bigger deal. When you have no health insurance and are already tight on cash-flow - it becomes a slightly bigger deal. All in all it looks like it will cost us up to $450 for all 3 of us to get the physicals. I should have known that we would need this...I really should have. But when I saw "Medical Information Form" or whatever it said...I really assumed it would just be a family medical history we'd have to fill out.

We also are going to need to get our 2 cats to the vet to get their shots, as this needs to be done before the homestudy too. I haven't added that to our Foster Fund info at the bottom because right now, I don't have a clue how much that will be.

I am starting to wonder if we should have put this off (or if we still should put this off) until we A) have insurance and B) have more of this stuff actually at some stage of completion. I really didn't want to delay the classes and the homestudy but unless we can get some things on Ebay and sold soon, we may have no choice. Even more, I am wondering if all of these obstacles and roadblocks are popping up as a sign that we shouldn't be doing this, or if they're just part of a test that we need to pass to prove to ourselves that we can do it if we put our minds to it. I just feel we've come too far emotionally (it took so much for us to cross the bridge from *thinking* about fostering to making the decision to *do* it) to just throw in the towel. Plus, that seems like it would be such a totally selfish decision.

When it comes down to it, I think what we need right now is prayer, and a lot of it!

Until next time -
Mariah

Fostering

2009-03-12T19:02:00.009-04:00

Well, we finally did get in touch with our caseworker, and made an appointment to go in and get set up for fingerprinting. We were there on time, she was not. We gave her our drivers licenses to copy, but then she couldn't get her computer to work so she said she'd have to do it later and mail us the paperwork (I guess they send us a scan-code which we take to a location that does our fingerprints). That was almost 2 weeks ago...no paperwork in the mail. I have to call her tomorrow to find out what is up with this.

On the upside, we did get our referral packet to the agency we will be working through. WOW...there is a lot of information to fill out. We are planning to work on that this weekend. We also already scheduled our fostering classes through them - set up for the first 3 Saturdays in May - we are on our way!! It's very exciting...but at the same time it's a little scary how fast things seem to be moving now that the larger agency has received our referral. We have to turn our loft area upstairs into a bedroom. It's an open loft right now, so we have to build a wall, and add a closet and a door. This is what it looked like the weekend after we moved in (my daughters bed and vanity were moved to her room after we painted her bedroom):

Like it is for many people, our money is tight right now. But we aren't planning on letting that deter our decision to become a foster family. We feel that since we finally have a home, we are ready to open that home to children in need and want to be able to do that as soon as possible. Without putting ourselves into hock and going into debt doing it, that is. So...right now our plans to fund the project, as well as purchase the other items we will need like beds, bedding, toys, etc., consist of a few different things (these are things we plan to do specifically to raise money for the things we need to do - in addition to just saving any extra money we can).

1) Grocery savings - we'll be putting back the money we save using coupons for our weekly grocery trips. Any amount under our normal weekly budget that we save is going into our "foster-home remodeling project" fund. For instance, our normal grocery budget is $60...if by using coupons we end up only spending $40, then $20 goes into the fund.

2) Ebay - we are going to be listing a bunch of items that we've outgrown or can no longer use on ebay. We'll also be listing any items we get as donations to list on Ebay (my mom is quite fond of finding stuff for me to list on Ebay and then refusing the money...so for now, when she gives us something to list I won't argue with her about that!). All of the proceeds from those auctions are going to go into the fund as well. To jump start our fund, we decided to take a gamble and purchase 4 concert tickets to Keith Urban and Taylor Swift that is coming up in June. They are great seats, and we spent about $400 on the 4 of them...my hope is to double that (the combo in concert seems to be pretty popular, and it is already sold out - so here's hoping someone wants to pay a premium for great seats), however if we make any profit at all it will of course be helpful. We figure the worst thing that can happen is we recoup our money and put that towards the fund - so it's really a no lose situation as long as we can sell them.

3) Garage Sale - The first weekend in June, our town has it's annual festival and along with that there are yard sales galore. In fact that might be the biggest attraction of the festival for some people. There are always lots of people out looking for a bargain. Our hope is to have the room finished (or at least funded and partially finished) by then, however hopefully we can sell enough to buy any items that we need such as furnishings or bedding that we haven't already aquired. We figure it will be a good time to sell any items we have that are too large to list on Ebay, or just aren't Ebay-friendly items, or any items that don't sell on Ebay after relisting one time.

I am going to try to set up a widget on my page that I can update with our goals, estimated costs, and to-date savings and goals met. We'll see if I can figure that one out - but don't hold your breath!

Love,
Mariah

Tired

2009-02-24T12:46:00.004-05:00

Man...I did not realize how hard it would be to get motivated to write again. I really want to write, I love to write...but when I had my last blog it was so much easier. Probably because I did not work, and now I have a stressful job (where I sit at a computer all day). I am tired when I get home...and the last thing I want to do is sit at a computer again. Maybe I need to not be so hard on myself and not expect to feel like writing more than once a week. I mean, it's not like I have a Blogger Boss expecting a 3 paragraph post each day by 5 or I'm fired...right?

I do have a lot to talk about...a lot has been on my mind. We have finally started the foster-to-adopt process. Well, at least - I think we have. We received our background check paperwork in the mail, filled it all out, and returned it to the DCFS receptionist who assured me she would get it to our caseworker. That was Friday the 13th...hmmm...now that I say it maybe that was a bad omen. I haven't heard a word since. Also I might mention that in the envelope with the background paperwork we had to fill out there were no instructions concerning what to do with it. So I just assumed we were to give it back to them. Maybe I was wrong. I might know the answer to that if our caseworker wold return any of the 3 messages I left, or answer the phone any of the hundred or so times I have tried to call and not left a message.

We are new at this, and have no idea how the process works really. I feel like there MUST be something we should be doing at this point...but nobody who knows what we should be doing knows what THEY should be doing (which is being a little more helpful with newbies to the foster world). Granted, I know they are busy. But, so am I. I am an accountant in the RV industry, which if you haven't heard isn't doing so hot...and we are on skeleton crew. I am now doing the job that at least 2 people used to do in a minimum of 80 hours a week...and I have to get it done in 40. So I do know a little about being busy. But I also know if I didn't return calls of new dealers who wanted to do business with us, we would lose those new dealers as they become frustrated with not getting return calls. The same could probably also be said of Foster Care. I have only been officially in the process for about a week and a half, but already I can truly imagine that the frustration of never being able to talk to anyone or get any answers might drive people to just say "forget it". I am not one of those people...I will soldier on. I will be patient. I just wish there could be an easier way. Maybe I should quit the RV industry and go to work for the Foster system...they seem to need the help.

Well...more later (I didn't say *when* later...haha)...I have a phone call to make :)

Love,
Mariah

Fencing Me In

2009-02-18T13:10:00.004-05:00

I am really having a hard time getting used to this blogging thing again. But, I have the urge to have this space...even if I don't use it often or use it in spurts. I hope that's not against any blogger law :)

I have been debating recently whether to separate my blog into separate blogs for separate subjects which I anticipate writing about. I have lots of things I'd like to eventually get around to writing about here...things like the foster/adopt process, crafts & cooking, frugality, etc. I have noticed that some people have more than one blog for justthat reason, to separate their blogs sort of by subject. I am guessing this makes it easier if you have readers that only want to read about a specific thing. But I think I decided that I'm just going to continue with the one...after all the title is kind of all-encompassing, right? Live Wholeheartedly...it kind of, for me, symbolizes making themost of everything I do, and hopefully upon doing that I will find my life more fulfilling. Plus, it's obviously been hard enough for me to get started on one blog again, I can't imagine trying to post on and maintain more than one!!

So I am trying to figure out how to categorize my writings (as though there are so many rightnow, right??)...I do see that some people have options to browse their blog posts by subject - so I am going to figure out how to do that so that it is easier (for otherse and myself)to browse for one particular subject...say fostering. So hopefully someday soon, I will havesome little links right over to the side somewhere that show the categories of my posts.

Now, if it is weeks later and there are still no little links right over to the side that show the categories...well obviously that means I couldn't figure it out, and if you haveany advice, do tell! LOL :)

Love,
Mariah

Owens/Kroger Mega Event Shopping Trip

2009-01-29T12:35:00.009-05:00

So this week I didn't get any shopping in until the last day for the Mega Event - Wednesday (at my locality, in Northern Indiana...the sales run Thursday - Wednesday). Coinciding with the Mega Event at my local store was also their Grand Re-Opening, as they have been doing some updating to the store lately. Bonus for me! In addition to the great sales they were already having, my store had Milk & OJ 1/2 gallons for $.99, Colgate toothpaste for $.99, Bananas for $.25/lb. - and a few other goodies that I didn't take advantage of.

Here are the best deals I got:

10- Colgate toothpastes: $.99 - $.75/1 coupons* = $.24 each!
10- Quaker Rice Snacks: $1.00 - $1.00/1 coupons* = FREE!
10- Suave Deodorants: $1.00 - $.50/1 coupons* (doubled to $1) = FREE!
10- Kraft 2% Cheese: $1.99 - $5 Instant Rebate - $.75/1 coupons* = $.74 each!
4- pkg Ekrich lunchmeant: $1.00 each
4- pkg Ekrich Pepperoni: $1.00 each
4- 1/2 Gallons Milk & OJ: $1.00 each
5lbs Bananas: $1.46

I picked up a few other odds & ends but those were the major bargains. I finally got a good start to my deodorant and toothpaste stockpiles - for cheap! Now I won't *have* to buy those- I only will need to buy them when I can get them for free, or really cheap. I still don't have a big stockpile of many things, but at least those few things are in place, plus I socked away a lot of rice snacks, which we love for a pretty healthy snack, and cheese (most of which is in the freezer now).

Grand total: $136.65 (price before card savings & coupons)
Total OOP: $35.56!
Total Savings: 79% (I think! I am not sure if I am calculating this correctly...?)

I hope everyone else snagged some great deals as well!!

Happy shopping!

Love, Mariah

The Art of Being Thrifty

2009-01-20T07:02:00.006-05:00

The title is really appropriate, I think, because being thrifty really is an art. You have to really work at it and become skilled at it for it to really blossom. I would have to say, so far, I would consider myself a starving artist...just starting out but fully passionate about what I am doing.

I have taken up couponing - again. I have tried this so many times before, I have wanted it to work, but it just hasn't, or I lost interest because I didn't know how to use the coupons to their fullest benefit and so I wasn't seeing great results. It never was worth the time I put into clipping and filing. But now, I have found wonderful blogs like MommySnacks and $5 Dinners, among many others. I wanted so badly to see the results that they were seeing. I started doing a lot of research thanks to a friend named Google, and some posts on a couple of groups I subscribe to over at Cafe Mom, and found a TON of good information!

So I set off on my couponing adventure about 3 weeks ago. 2 weeks ago was my first "official" coupon-shopping-trip. I saved some - not as much as I would have liked but I got a few deals and it intrigued me enough to try it for a second week. Of course - I had only collected about 2 Sunday's worth of coupons at that point (and the first of those Sundays I made the rookie mistake of buying only one paper! Gah!). So this week I forged ahead - and saw quite a bit more savings. Still, not as much as I hope to eventually, once I get really good at 'The Game', and have a few more Sunday's worth of coupons under my belt. But, good, nonetheless. I got a lot more groceries than I would normally have gotten for the amount of money I spent.

My shopping trip consisted only of Kroger this week - because I didn't see a lot of freebies elsewhere and I haven't gotten completely comfortable with the CVS or Walgreens game just yet. I am learning - but I wanted to tackle Kroger first because it's the store I do most of my weekly shopping at anyway. So...Kroger. As luck would have it, I live about the exact same distance from 3 different Kroger stores (one in a small town to the west of mine, and two in a somewhat larger town to the east of mine) - and while one town's stores might be only doubling coupons one week, the other's might be tripling them - as was the case this week! The larger town had the same sales, but were only doubling coupons. The smaller town's store was tripling them (up to 50 cents - making those worth $1.50!). So off to the smaller town I went - and I was able to get quite a few deals but I will just mention a few:

*Suave Shampoo & Conditioners - 10/$10 - I bought 6 of these using 3 coupons ($.50/2) - making them $.25 each! Not free, but close - and it is the beginning of my shampoo/conditioner stockpile! Total cost - $.25 each!

*Frank's Hot Sauce - $1.25 for the small bottle - these weren't on sale but I had $.50/1 coupons that I used to make them FREE - I bought 4 of these (my husband likes hot sauce). I still have some coupons left in case the larger bottles go on sale, but if not before they expire I will get more of the freebie smaller bottles if they triple coupons again between now and then. Total cost: FREE!

*Cottonelle Toilet Paper 4 packs - 10/$10 - I bought only 4 of these (because that's all I had coupons for) - but I had 2 coupons for $.50/1 - making those 2 packs free, and 1 coupon for $.50/2 - making those 2 packs $.25/each. Total cost: around $.13/each!

*Quaker Snack-size Rice Cakes - 10/$10 - I bought 2 (because that's how many coupons I had, plus they only had one flavor left) and used a $1/1 coupon on each, making them free! Total cost: FREE! **I got a rain check for these as they were out of several flavors, and bought more of these coupons off of Ebay, so once I get them I can stockpile some of these freebies!!

Plus, I haven't bought these yet - but last week's sale had 10/$10 on Suave deodorant, which I had a couple of coupons for (2 $.50/1 coupons, doubling them making the deodorant free) - so I got a rain check for them. Then I bought more of those coupons off of Ebay and once I receive those I will pick up a ton of deodorant for FREE also - so that will get my deodorant stockpile started! Now if I can just find a good deal on toothpaste, which I am almost out of, and a really good deal on some toilet paper - which we go through like water - I'll be thrilled!!

So, all in all, a good trip. I ended up getting $156.66 worth of groceries for $95.52 (not to mention earning my $.10 off per gallon of gas!). Not as good a savings as some who have been doing it for a long time, but I am still not as flush as those people on coupons, and I am still working on stockpiling...so once I have those things in place, I will be doing a lot better, I hope. But - even if I never do better than this, $60 worth of savings is SO much better than I have ever done before - so I am one happy, thrifty, not-so-starving "artist"!

Until next time - Love,
Mariah

Deconstructing Christmas

2009-01-08T19:48:00.013-05:00

A very sad day in our household...the Christmas decorations have begun to come down.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

I know, for a lot of people this is pretty late to still have the decorations up - but we just haven't had the time this year. It's been kind of nice having it up a while longer, considering this Christmas seemed to pass by way too quickly. Odd considering that I had 2 weeks off this year. But the 2 weeks were filled with so much stress and last-minute preparations and baking and candy-making, it wasn't what I wanted it to be. I had grand delusions of long moments each evening in our front room (the 'sitting' or what I call the 'reading' room), drinking hot chocolate and just sitting in the glow of the tree lights. As it turns out, I probably only clocked about 10 minutes of evening tree-glow time.

C'est la vie. Maybe next year. Maybe next year I also won't ruin 4 batches of fudge before I realize my candy thermometer is broken. Maybe next year I won't be so ambitious as to make 5 kinds of candies, too many varieties of cookies, so many homemade gifts...yeah...that's probably not going to happen. Those things are the things I love to do most...gift people with things I've made with love. But at least maybe next year I will plan ahead a little more and not be doing everything so last-minute. Of course, the ice storm that knocked out our power for 12 hours the Friday before Christmas (of course, the day I was planning to do the bulk of my baking!) - so maybe next year Mother Nature will be a little more cooperative, too.

All in all though, it was a great Christmas. Our first Christmas in our new home. The first time I've been able to host my family's Christmas gathering after waiting so many years. Good times with family and friends...and our daughter had a wonderful Christmas, even though this was the year she learned the truth about the jolly man in the red suit (a sad, sad moment for ME as well as her).

We also all got a little closer to God this Christmas, and that is what I am most thankful for. So goodbye Christmas, thank you for the wonderful memories - we can't wait to see you again next year.

Love,
Mariah

A New Day Has Come...

2009-01-04T13:09:00.011-05:00

So it's 2009. It's been a little over 3 years since I've really written in a blog. I had to take a break from where I was at that point in my life, back when. There were a lot of chapters to that blog, a lot of them happy memories which I still love going back and reading...a lot of them sad memories which still make me cry. I actually posted on that old site just last year...when my boys came back to town (the reunion of the New Kids on the Block!). I thought about re-starting my blog life on that site, just picking up kind of where I left off...after all it is still there, still that same old layout, same colors, very comfortable. But I have this overwhelming desire to start fresh, so here I landed. It will take some getting used to - after all I posted there for over 2 years. But I already like the feel of this site. I'm excited...and I have developed so much more as a person in the 3 years since my last blog. I feel like I have so much more to say, so much more to share.

My first thought was that I wanted to start a blog about just crafting alone...posting ideas, pictures, tutorials for crafts I do or want to do, including a lot of ideas about homemade gifts and getting started on next years Christmas gifts now...because that is one one thing that is really up-front in my mind right now. But then I thought, I could include some of my baking/cooking experiences too, and maybe some party-planning tips and ideas, and pictures. And that takes me to another passion of mine - photography, I could include that too! So in the few days the idea has been brewing to start blogging again, it morphed from a craft blog into a sort-of crazy, everything I love blog. I realized that I just have so many interests and so many things that I'm passionate about - that I just need to write about whatever I feel like writing about at the moment and not limit myself to one particular thing. Along the way you'll probably see that I have many more interests than I have even mentioned already. It might be a really odd assortment of posts from day to day or week to week, sort of like a funny, looping roller coaster. But then, I always did love roller coasters!

Love,
Mariah