Happy New Year -Welcome 2012

This blog was initally a place for me to document time savers, OAMC recipes, and any ideas I stumbled upon to make my life as a wife/mommy easier --this year it will be a menagerie of all that is Me-- Me at this time is the me, a child of God, broken at the cross being rebuilt one moment at a time by Him ,a wife, a mom, a homeschool parent/teacher/student and an emerging advocate for foster children.

I am on day one of 2012 -- God has laid out this path for us thus far ......

put HIM first -- beginning each and EVERY day in His word 1st , before even getting out of my bed I shall read the best book of all time The Bible - oh yes I shall begin each day in my Armor of God -- I am setting the same guidelines for my sons as well

We are dedicating the 1st quarter of "schooling" to character training -- we will be studying the Bible in depth, initally focusing on applying titus 2, Matthew 18 and Galations 5:22 <3 We will be home much more often as we learn to apply these habitually to our mind, heart and everyday actions.


Our family is prayerful that the Lord is closing in some of the gaps in our church life-- We LOVE our church home but due to distance (a good hour each way) are unable to participate in small groups, outreach and children's programs as we are accustomed. We are hopeful that God is guiding our path to a local church we can also call "home"

Please pray for me and my ability to surrender to God all that he calls me too--I need to stop taking back what I lay at his feet -- With God all things are possible !

Please pray for Gods divine providence on our family as we embark once again on the journey of adoption. God has clearly had his hand on the steering wheel of this for quiet some time! Fernando, the children and I look forward to meeting the next members of our family soon <3 <3

Happy New Year and God Bless you all in 2012,
Jen =)

I'm baacaack!

Well my computer completely crashed shortly after I began this blogging journey. Anywhoo I was tremendously blessed this month with a brand new computer. I am so excited to be back and blogging again!!!

PINK with PURPOSE!

Ok, so this post is going to be about PINK with PURPOSE ~ Breast Cancer Awarenss, education, prevention & hope !!!

(a lil off my normal path)
I am going to put this out there because well my family needs prayer & I am going to ask for it ! I am going to put my emotional struggle out there for you & the world to see, a rareity for me.

I am walking in the Phoenix Susan G Komen "Race for The Cure" 5K walk this Sunday 10/10/10. If you feel led please support me by follwing the link below:

http://www.komenphoenix.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=421127&lis=1&kntae421127=A69E3DCE44E04869B22CA742F898B188&supId=304497795




I grew up with the illusion my Mom would be here on earth til I was old & gray myself since she had me at 19.

The reality that may not be so began in my teens when she got Bells Palsy , paralyzation of the face. Then a flu shot triggered a reaction in her nervous system which put her in the NeuroICU at UCI when I was in my early twenties. Then in June 2007 we almost lost her unexpectedly. Now this woman I call Mom has breast cancer. She has not been given the greatest "lot in life" as the old adage goes.

At this point I am honestly screaming at God. I have struggled seeing my mom ill every time. Certain images of her ill during each hospital stay still wake me at nite, certain tests I observed & watched her fail never fade from memory, I know verbatem each call from her that said she needed me , her only daughter , her only child, that consequently ended up with me in a vehicle wether 10 mins away or crossing state lines, to take her to seek medical care.

The last few years have been a struggle for her & I. My mother is a force to be reckoned with & especially when her title is "patient". UGH, really she is the WORST patient I have EVER seen !!! She seems to think the doctors ORDERS are RECOMMENDATIONS :/ This resistance of hers led me to reach my maximum capacity for frustration & agitation approx eight-teen months ago . I decided that as her primary enabler that , hey, if she doesn't care , nor do I ! Sadly of course I still fret & worry but I keep it to myself (as much as possible) and let her decide without my intrusion how to care for herself.

That leads me to her role as Nana. I think my sons have hit the jackpot having my mom as a Nana. Seriously if I believed in re-incarnation I would want to come back as her grandchild or dog. She lavishes them with love & over indulgence. I look at my boys, her grandsons & I think of the laughter she brings to them, how on a bad day I know Nana is the right remedy. Now I need to figure out how to tell my boys she has the Big C & I dont know how :*(

I dont want to go into too much detail, but lets just say her current treatment is at a cross roads. We need prayer because as much as we argue , at the end of the day, my boys & I , we need my mom & we need her for a lot longer. My mom has lost too many friends to the "Big C" and as much as she is a fighter, she has seen this disease at its worst & that changes the terms of treatment for her drastically. So pray that she has Dr's with wisdom & that the battle is in her favor. Thank you !!!

Go do your monthly exams Mammas, your babies (of all ages) are counting on it,
Jen

Manage It Momma !!!: "The List"

Manage It Momma !!!: "The List": "Last Summer I rediscovered my joy of reading for pleasure. I literally had spent the last decade reading intentionally, I exclusively read..."

"The List"

Last Summer I rediscovered my joy of reading for pleasure. I literally had spent the last decade reading intentionally, I exclusively read with a goal in mind. For a girl who used to consume a 400 page novel in a day I think it speaks volumes about my life in general probably :/ I had become a little too task oriented! Anywhoo after having an a-ha moment I realized I could read for enjoyment again.

The lil unexpected blessing in reading all these leisure novels is that through them I have continued to learn & grow as well. I think in every imaginary character is obviously a real person who inspired the author. I want to share something profound I learned in one of these books last nite.

It may literally change your marriage, your friendships, your life! I have read A LOT of relationship books, & not one had something so simple, so enlightening & so significant recommended.

Here is your task:
1)Go get your paper =)
2)Got a pen or pencil yet?
3)Fold your paper in half
3)I want you to think about your spouse, the good, the bad , the ugly, be REAL!!!
4)Now list EVERYTHING he/she does to irritate you, upset you, makes you angry, fills you with resentment,even makes you cry..........when you think your done double check it, & make sure even the little things are there
5) Are you done?!?!

Oh my gosh !!!! Really you have to live that, endure that ,listen to that .......

Here is the next step --the most CRUCIAL

6)open your piece of paper
7) next to each frustration list how YOU respond!


Does you hubby come home from work irritable & gripey? How do you respond? Do you gripe back? Do you listen without offense? Do you offer a shoulder rub?

My husband is a nite owl & I am not! LOl, looking at my list I was a lil appalled when my reaction once ,OK maybe twice, was to lock him out of our room :o Um, yep, that may have caused some conflict , eek!

We need to open our eyes candidly & realize our loved ones, our spouses, our family members, our friends also have "the list". How do we want them to respond to us? Can we change some of our responses? Absolutely! Can some behaviours be changed, sure. What about the ones that can't be changed in them or us? Can we work out a solution that really works & doesn't instill resentment?

Ex: I have a son who cannot sit still at the dinner table. He has two options while eating, either use the chair & sit down or set aside the chair & stand, he can not lean on the chair with one knee which may result in injury. I imagine his wife will have to purchase a counter height table so that she can enjoy a meal sitting down & yet enjoy face to face conversation with him =)

I want my loved ones to respond with compassion, patience, understanding, and meeting me half way when I cannot be altered ;-) . I need to do the same !!!

The reality is our spouses, family & friends fill our lives with love, companionship, partenrship, wisdom, support and joy. Lets see how much more of the positive we can add to our daily lives by taking positive action & personal responsibility .

Do the surveys =)

OK so I initially came to my computer today to respond to my stack of receipt surveys for FREE goodies & a blog idea hit me.

How many of you actually reply to the lil surveys on the bottom of your grocers,fast food, local home improvement stores etc??? I have found that YES YES YES they are worth the time. A penny saved is a penny earned =) I collect all my receipts in a stack & then once per month I take the stack to my computer & reply - I typically receive codes for free products or email coups for free products. Cant beat that with a baseball bat ;-) (can you tell little league just started here ) I recommend setting up an email account specifically for such offers. It is fantabulous to open up your email acct & get coups galore,plus it doesn't load up your daily email with "junk mail". You can check the "coup" email as frequent or infrequent as your schedule alots. Anywhoo, what I have found is I spend approx 15 mins. doing this a month& my family can get a treat FREE most times when on the run from all the fantabulous offers I receive. I do truly believe the key to this is having them in bulk quantity. A free donut at Dunkin Donuts doesn't seem like much , until you have 6 of 'em. (Our local DD doesn't think the free donut is a great incentive either so they give a free medium coffee hot or iced ) Starbucks emails coups for a FREE beverage, restaurants will email you sporadic coups for free appetizers or desserts, and so on. Home improvement stores will send you $$$ of a certain purchase amount. The great part about these lil survey coupons is that most do not require any additional purchase.
Where are you storing your coups??? Are they in a PRACTICAL spot? I have a special resealable bag that is stored in my vehicle for my "on the go" coupons. These are the restaurant coupons, retail store coupons, fast food coupons etc. Anything that you may use while out & about . I rarely plan to eat out at a local fast food chain, so the best place for my coupons is in the car. The best coupon dictates where I am headed usually LOL. What good is my Build a Bear workshop or Sport Chalet coupons if they are on my kitchen counter? I don't know about you but If i have a $5 off coupon at home & need to pay full price I am so disappointed :/ Bottom line store your coupons in a practical place where they can be utilized & SAVE SAVE SAVE you $$$$ =)
How many of you utilize the savings on the back of your grocery store receipts. Currently our local grocers ads are for FREE Chick-Fil-A sandwiches with no purchase necessary, $15 oil change for a local automotive shop, B1G1 free at McD for smoothies. Not too shabby for a receipt you most likely will be throwing away. So check the coups & clip! clip!clip!
That brings me to another question......... How often do you check your receipts prior to leaving a store? The answer in a perfect world would be ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS!!! The statistics of how often we are overcharged for an item since scanners became common is astonishing. This month I received $24 back from my grocery store on a single transaction due to compound errors. My mom had to return to a local toy store when a sale item was not scanned at 50% off :o oops! The easiest & most convenient way to ensure you were billed accurately is to review your receipt prior to leaving the store. Many grocery stores reimburse you the cost of the item too, a nice little perk. I rarely receive my reusable bag credit offered at many retail stores , hey, that 5cents per bag ( and I have 20) will add up over time! Check, check & double check your receipts prior to departure

***Since reusable bags came up I will add this GREAT idea on here. There are a ton of very cute reusable bags out there now & hey are typically under $2. Most gift bags cost anywhere from $1-$6 easily especially when they have licensed characters. I have begun to purchase a variety of reusable bags for less than the paper gift bags in varying sizes and prints as gift bags. They are more fun & more durable ***



TTFN Managing Mommas,
Jen =)

She watches over the affairs of her household ~Proverbs 31:27

man·age   /ˈmænɪdʒ/ Show Spelled [man-ij] Show IPA verb, -aged, -ag·ing.
–verb (used with object)

1. to bring about or succeed in accomplishing, sometimes despite difficulty or hardship:
2. to take charge or care of
3. to dominate or influence (a person) by tact, flattery, or artifice
4. to handle, direct, govern, or control in action or use



This is a blog I will be updating frequently ---I am going to use it in lieu of Face Book to posts recipes, great websites for learning , saving $$, great activities, etc, and any & all fun organizational things I have been blessed to come across & can now share with you my blog "followers".

I will be dedicating this blog to all the frenzied & frugal mamma's out there ,who like I, aspire to reach this goal prior to the Lord calling me home
~Proverbs 31:28 (New International Version)
Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her


I realized quiet some time ago if my family is going to arise & call me blessed the less overwhelmed or frazzled I can be the better !!! Notice , I said LESSEN because I mean come on , in all reality unless you have a maid, taxi cab driver, chef , nanny & private tutor for the kiddos, etc. life gets overwhelming at times & therefore we get frazzled.
So when something overwhelms me, or I cant enjoy an event because I feel we wasted resources of time or $$$, I try to come up with a resolution so the next time I can go & enjoy myself =)

That is how the idea for this blog came to mind. Tonite on the way home from my sons baseball game , we stopped at Sonic for Wacky Wednesday $1.79 kids meals --total bill for two kids meals @ $1.79 ea. & a blt combo for mamma $9, BOO HOO!!! I can't really say I enjoyed the meal all that much & I have a bazillion other things I would prefer to invest $9 on besides junk food. So my new solution, lunchables "manage it mamma" style. I will be taking freezer gallon bags and pre-making in bulk "lunch on the go bags" that will include a pre-made pb&j, or meat,cheese & mustard sandwich,(you can also add miracle whip as a mayo substitute in freezer if your fam likes mayo) string cheese, fruit cup & a boxed juice. In the future when we are going to have baseball practice we will grab one of these on the way out, it will defrost during game time & my boys & I can eat it on the way home. Total cost less than $1 per meal bag. WOO HOO!!! So I thought I can start putting all this on a blog & hopefully another mamma will benefit. I mean really if you re-read the definition of manage that is every moms job description. We manage every family members schedule, the meal planning, our children's education,social events,family budget,family relations, car maintenance ,household chores ,pets, Dr. appts. , and on & on & on.

Now bear with me on this journey --I am not a computer savvy gal, AT ALL!!! I will be learning as time goes on how to upload photos of all the ideas & tips posted, the links, pretty backgrounds, etc. I hope you subscribe & are blessed by my blog.

Blessings Managing it Mammas,
Jen <3