Party's Over

I had a pity party last week. It lasted...oh, all week.

Not my proudest moment.

I was mourning the loss of my free schedule. I was down with a cold. I was overwhelmed and so I shut down completely.

I enjoy doing things well, and when that wasn't happening last week, it was all over.

I promised Halloween pics. Didn't get done.
I had a giant pile of laundry. Didn't get done.
I had Bible study to do. Didn't get done.
Should I go on?
I think you get the picture.

Last week was our first week as interim youth directors at our church. This is a position that I do not in any way feel qualified for. Kris and I definitely felt called to do it, but that doesn't mean it doesn't scare us to death!

Anyway, my schedule just got a lot more hectic. And I'm not really a fan of hectic. I spent the whole week pouting about it. Don't worry though, God didn't let me stay there too long. In very gentle ways he steered me out of it. This week is a fresh start. I'm learning to manage my time differently. I will have significantly less free time, but it won't kill me. I'm going to have to lean on God for the strength to do it all, but that's what he's there for!

I am so excited to see what God is doing here! It's been quite a trip so far, and I think that means amazing things are ahead.

For now, let me catch you up on the last week.

Halloween costumes! We spent a total of $15 this year! That's thanks to my mom who made the magician and princess costumes for birthday presents earlier this year. She's got some amazing skills!

We were given half a bushel of grapes, and the back of my car is full of carrots from our garden. It didn't get taken care of last week, so I'm working on that this week. If anyone has any good uses for carrots...I could use some help with that.

I sent off another large payment to the student loan! We payed almost $1000 this month toward it! Yippee!!!

We also got a new dining room set! This was something I've been (not very) patiently waiting for. I love our table, it's been in my husband's family for generations, but it was not meeting our needs very well. We want to get it refinished, but needed something for the meantime. Oh, and it would be nice to have more than three chairs. I might really miss that lawn chair though.

Maybe not.

We shopped around and found a table we loved, but it was $1600. Not really a good idea right now. So, we got one off Craigslist for $150 that we thought would work for a while and we can wait until a better time. I'm actually pretty happy with this one!

So, the pity party's over and I'm ready to see how God is going to be working in us! Don't worry, I'll keep you updated!

Polly Want A...

In case you were wondering...I still love free food! These were all from my Dad and Mom. My dad is a trucker and sometimes when cases are damaged, they get to keep the stuff. They ended up with a bunch of crackers and were gracious enough to share with us! Of course, we then passed on the blessing as well. Our good friends Matt and Victoria were visiting from Boise, so we shared the crackers with them too! The kids have seen the crackers, but the cookies will remain hidden so we can bring them out at strategic times (or just sneak them, whichever).

It was just payday weekend and I took $20 out of my grocery cash again. I didn't even miss it last time. Maybe this is a good week to take out another $20 since our pantry and fridge are still full and I don't even need to do the grocery shopping yet. I had budgeted some money for food and fun while our friends were visiting, and there are loads of leftovers, so that gave me a head start on saving grocery money this time!

I'll be back on here later today to show you our budget Halloween costumes this year! Well, that is if I get a chance to finish them. Wish me luck!

Dear Santa,

This year I would really like my own computer. Or a tablet. Or anything along those lines that I don't have to share with three children and a husband. It makes it very difficult to blog about painting all last week at Kris' parents house,

digging out water pipes at Kris' parents,

a certain child who stole my razor and thought she should shave her mustache,

digging potatoes,

and more potatoes,

and more potatoes.

My family would appreciate it too. They're not very happy about me pestering them to hand over the keyboard.
I promise to be good for the rest of the year!
Love, Melissa

P.S. Maybe you could also bring some recipes for potatoes. As you can see, I have lots and I need to know what to do with them. Thanks.

A Fantastic Start!

I did the grocery shopping yesterday morning, minus $20 from my normal, and I'm happy to report I came home with $54 to spare!

Almost all the produce I bought was organic. One exception was the lettuce from Costco, it's such a good deal I just can't pass it up. I tried to buy mostly what is in season so I guess that helped.

Fred Meyer was having a good sale and I got an extra bag of whole wheat pastry flour for half price. I use that stuff a lot, so I'm considering going back for more. They also had decent prices on their organic tomatoes, grapes, and carrots. Oh, and the coconut milk creamer and whole milk yogurt that were already on my shopping list were on sale too! I love Fred Meyer.

At Winco I stocked up on raw nuts, raisins, nutmeg, and organic oats from the bulk bins. Of course I discovered pecans were cheaper at Costco, so I'll remember that next time. I get most of my dry goods from Winco, and this time I made sure we have chocolate chips and things like that for baking.

I ended the trip at Costco where I didn't have much left to get. Bacon (per Kris' request), string cheese, and yogurt. Let's see, oh and a bag of chips. I've been trying to pick up one each payday just for fun, and we make it last. Finished off with a box of organic granola bars. I think they're trying to get rid of them because the box used to be around $8 but now they're $3.79. The supply is dwindling, so I've been buying a few boxes every time I'm there.

I'm glad I have a little extra left over for milk and to refresh the produce supply in about a week.

The whole thing made me happy though! I really think this is going to work!

This Week

Well, my three year old has discovered computer games. Kinda cute, but sharing the computer, not so much.

This week:

 I made the yummiest apple pie (and most beautiful I might add) from the apples off our tree:

On apple pie night we made twice baked potatoes from our home-grown potatoes and my kids and I fought over the zucchini that Kris' aunt gave us from her garden. It's a little ridiculous at the dinner table to be counting out chunks of zucchini to make sure it's even. It was much more beneficial for me when my kids couldn't count.

I also made granola. It's so delicious there may need to be an intervention.

Speaking of intervention...

I maybe shouldn't have left my children unsupervised with a jar of prunes.

 Good times.

Also this week, need to take away the debit cards. Seriously. Kris and I totally know better. We didn't spend anything we didn't already have, but honestly could be using it much more wisely.

Friday we went to the *cough* way overpriced *cough* circus. It was fun (insert sarcastic tone). Ok, it was fine. Just not worth $30 to sit OUTSIDE for 2 hours. Honestly, who schedules an outdoor event like that in Idaho in October. And what kind of mom wouldn't realize it could possibly be outdoors and not have her children dress appropriately?! What?! It wasn't me!

Subject change.

I got my grocery cash on Friday, and still haven't had the chance to do my grocery shopping. But, the list is made and I'm ready to go first thing tomorrow morning.

With $20 less than normal!

It's a great week to try it. We're pretty stocked up with all this crazy free food that God keeps blessing us with. I don't understand it all, except that maybe God is honoring my committment to spend more wisely. He's so good to us!

I'll let you know how it goes!

Hello Old Friends!

I was so happy to come home the other day and find Kris putting in my washer and dryer! It's been a long time, and boy have I missed them!

These babies were our very first large cash purchase after we were coming out of a seriously difficult financial time. It had been about 18 months since we decided to trust God with our money needs instead of using our credit cards. We were in the middle of Financial Peace University and had learned about using cash to make purchases. I sent Kris and Josiah to the store with several $100 bills in their pockets, and they came back with these lovelies!

Fast forward a few short months and they were put in storage while we moved and found a house. Then when we bought this house it had a washer and dryer already hooked up, so we've been using those. They were a nice set, but nothing like these.

And now we get to sell the set that came with the house and pocket that money!

I will be spending much less time doing laundry now, which leaves more time to make my newest favorite recipe:

Bagels!

Yesterday my son was begging me to take him to the bagel bakery in town, but I really didn't want to spend the money. Finally I looked up a recipe and decided to make my own! They were so easy and fun to make. And so, so, so delicious!

I think if I make up a double batch every week the kids can use these for their breakfasts or even their sack lunches for school.

One delicious step closer to a smaller grocery budget! Hooray!

I like free food

It's been a strange week at our house. I can't seem to keep my days straight between kids staying home sick, no school on Thursday and Friday, and spending a day sick in bed myself. We've also got a big decision weighing over us this week. As well as a birthday to celebrate.

 Happy Birthday Sweetheart! :)

We have managed to do a little food preservation this week though. And for me, not a whole lot else.

Kris put loads of pears in the dehydrator. We were given a large bin of homegrown pears last weekend. Yum. Pears are in my top five favorite fruits. My family loves them dried, we have to hide them so the kids save some for us!

We filled the dehydrator twice and it's given us about 6 jars full. Yes, I realize that's only five jars. Like I said, we really love dried pears.

We also had loads of free peaches. Yet another fruit on my top five list. Possibly number one. I made them into peach butter and peach jalapeno jam (with jalapenos from our garden). So. Good.

 I was supposed to use some of these as gifts.

That may or may not happen.