Family
To Red Card or Not to Red Card
To Red Card or not to Red Card, that is the question??…. But it shouldn’t even be a question! I held off for so long, but wow am I so grateful that I finally bit the bullet and signed up. I know, I know every time you go through the Target line they ask you if you want a Red Card… It may get old, but they really are only trying to help your quality of life. How many of you shop at Target weekly, or maybe even daily some weeks? How many of you have trouble keeping track of all your receipts? How many of you like free shipping? And how many of you like discounts and added benefits? If you raised your hand or said me to any of those questions, I think it may be time you take advantage of the Target Red Card. You may be thinking, “really, one more card”, but did you know it doesn’t have to even be a credit card? You get a debit card that is linked to your bank account with no credit charges or fees. So what are the actual benefits?
- 5% off all purchases
- Keeps track of all purchases
- Longer time to return items
- Free shipping on all online purchases
- You make the target workers so happy when you get to say you already have one
- Special Pharmacy rewards
5%… really?? That’s 5% on all food, gifts, baby items, clothes, sales, clearance items…. It’s a great savings on top of great deals already!
How can you say no??
So next time that friendly person in the red shirt asks you, say yes! It has definitely improved my life, helped my budget, and rewarded my spending habits.
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We Love Discounts!
This month is all about things, people, and activities that we love! Something that we all LOVE is a bargain! Living in California means that we all pay a “pretty penny” for the sunshine and ocean breeze 🙂 So, we have all become accustomed to searching for discounts and finding the best deals. This could be as simple as price checking a product on Amazon or doing more research to figure out timing of sales at a store. Here are a few of my most recent discoveries when bargain shopping…
- Buy Buy Baby has to put baby food 50% off when it is three months out from its expiration date.
2. Costco has quite a few discount tricks to be on the look out for: A price ending in .97 is a deal decided by the manager; A price ending in .49 or .79 is a manufacturer’s special; A price tag with an asterisk means that the item has been discontinued.
3. Get additional discounts at Target with the Cartwheel App (more on this in a future post)! Want even more of a discount…Check out Bethany’s post TOMORROW to read about why you should get a Target RedCard! We just got one and we LOVE it!!
4. Shop at Sprouts on WEDNESDAYS for Double Ad Days when two weeks of ads overlap. Save even more using the app for more specials and mobile coupons! We love buying our produce on Wednesdays at Sprouts because there are such great deals!
5. Zulily is one of our favorite websites and apps to find Baby Clothes and Toys, Party Supplies and many other Mom-Need purchases! All the prices are discounted and we have found some really great birthday gifts, home decor, and some favorites and go-tos such as Pack-its!
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True Friends Help Strengthen Marriages
With Valentine’s Day coming up in a few weeks, I have been doing quite a bit of thinking and praying for marriages. Marriages seem to be under attack in our culture. One wonders what has happened to the “ALL IN” commitment that used to be the foundation of the “for better or worse” promise, spoken in marriage vows. So today I challenge you to join me as I ask myself each day, “Am I all in for better or for worse and am I living like I mean it, today?”
Marriages have seasons. There are ups and downs as two imperfect people learn how to live together and love one another. The kind of love needed to keep a marriage alive, growing and strong takes a decision or a mindset that strives to consider another person’s needs as more important than one’s own needs. When I made my commitment to marriage, I considered it a covenant with no wiggle room for an opt-out clause. Therefore, it is my responsibility to live every day “ALL IN”, for better or for worse. I am willing to invest, invest, invest, regardless of how I feel…………because I made a covenant of love with the man I married in the presence of the God I serve.
But what do I do when we hit a rough patch? How do we navigate the storms of life that rock our marriages today? Where do we turn to get the encouragement we need when our relationships need help?
Today as I spent time walking on a beautiful trail near my house, I listened to a podcast from Family Life Today called How Marriages Get Better. You can listen to it by clicking here or go to http://familylifetoday.com/program/how-marriages-get-better/. What I gleaned from this story of John and Pam …
Read MoreDIY Personalized Photo Valentine
This is my daughter Ellie’s first year in school, so our very first Valentine’s Day exchange is coming up. I wanted to attempt something special, and then take Ellie to the store to pick out Valentine’s as a back up. My attitude towards Pinterest projects is I love them if I can confidently complete them.
So, I got to Pinning. There were a lot of great ideas, but sometimes I get frustrated with Pinterest because a Pin takes you to the wrong link, only a photo, or a post with no tutorial!!
I decided to do the photo card where you pose the child to look like they are holding a lollipop, so when you add the REAL lolipop to the card, it looks like they are presenting their friend with a GIANT lollipop!
I found a lot of adorable DIY photo Valentine’s, but only one with a tutorial and it required an application (Google Photo) that I don’t have. A little searching on Google, and I found I could do everything I needed with the Apple application, “Preview.”
DIY Personalized Photo Valentine:
Step 1: Take your photos
We tried a few different poses so I could pick a favorite. I ended up liking 4 of them, and used them all so there would be a variety of cards to give her classmates.
Step 2: Add text
On an Apple computer, open the application, “Preview.” I recommend duplicating the photo before editing so you have an original copy of the photo and a second to edit. Once the photo is open in Preview, click the icon that looks like a brief case to show “markup toolbar.” Click the “T” to add a text box. Write your text. Change the font, size, and color to your liking and move around on …
Read MoreSoul Clutter (de-clutter your soul and give a gift to those you Love)
We all know about the stuff we leave on the counter, intending to put away later. We all have articles of clothing and multiple pairs of shoes that we never wear. Our closets are jammed, our kitchen cupboards are overflowing and we keep things that we haven’t used or looked at for years. It’s our clutter. This is the same way that clutter comes into our mind and our souls. Soul clutter is the stuff that we shove down thinking we will attend to later. Soul clutter affects my priorities. It clogs up my thinking, causing me to become self-focused, overly critical and self condemning.
Last week when I posted about de-cluttering my life I was focused on the task of reorganizing and sorting through my physical stuff. But as I have continued to work on my New Year’s project of de-cluttering my home I have been thinking a lot about how easily my clutter effects more than my physical surroundings. Being disorganized can affect my closest personal relationships. So I started thinking this week about “Soul Clutter” Is my stuff altering my priorities? Do I spend more time taking care of my stuff than taking care of the needs of those I love? I my stuff clogging up my ability to think and plan and maintain a balanced schedule? Do I neglect my own emotional and spiritual needs and those of my loved ones when my life is full of clutter?
I will do whatever it takes to be the healthiest me I can be so I can truly LOVE these blessings!!!
Soul clutter can be a by-product of my physical clutter. When we keep too much stuff and do not give it away it may be because we have fear, guilt or shame.
Fear asks, “what if I …
Focus on Something Small
At the beginning of a new year, many people will set resolutions of different goals they want to accomplish throughout the year. Sometimes these goals are small, sometimes they are big; but all require focus and determination.
For the last six months, my biggest focus and struggle has been figuring out how to get Sophie to nap. She has been the happiest baby, except when I leave her in her crib. So, it has been months of trying different strategies and tactics to get her to nap in her crib, most of which have ended up in me carrying her around in my Tula Baby Carrier just so she would get some rest. This has been very discouraging.
With the new year arriving, I stepped back from the situation to figure out what I could control in what felt like a very out of control situation. I realized that I could control putting her down in her crib. After months of trying, it became easier to just put her in the Tula – skip the screaming, skip what felt like false hope every time there was silence which was really when she stopped screaming to take a breath, skip the discouragement just so she would get the rest she needed to grow and develop. However, I knew that this was not helping the situation in the long run. Here are some pictures from our “Napping Adventure”…
So, this became my goal – put Sophie down in her crib for both of her naps and continue throughout the week no matter the result. There were a few successes and there were a lot of “failures”; out of 14 attempts, she fell asleep two or three times on her own. But, when it came down to it, I accomplished my goal! Now, …
Read MoreLet’s De-Clutter in 2017
My life is FULL of treasures!!
I love my family. I love photographs and I love children’s art. I am a mom that hangs every school art project that my girls have ever brought home to me on my walls and on my refrigerator. And now the next generation of budding artists, my grandchildren) have begun to mail me incredibly adorable drawings to decorate my kitchen.
I love antiques. My parents collected antiques and passed many beautiful pieces of Pennsylvania Dutch furniture and decorative brass and pewter items to me. My husband and I continued collecting antiques when we lived on the East Coast.
I love books. I love to read and my husband and I both love to learn so we have a huge collection of resource books, travel books and bible study books. I began to read to my girls when they were very young because I also love children’s books.
I love to cook. I collect cookbooks and recipes and kitchen tools. I was the blessed recipient of all my grandmother’s hand-me–down kitchen stuff and I have loved and used every baking dish, platter and utensil.
I also love to do any and every kind of arts and craft and I love to sew……..
Here is the problem…..I do not like to waste anything and I always believe there will be a use for anything leftover….leftover food goes in the freezer, leftover craft materials go into stacking bins for the next project or for when the grandkids come to Gammie day camp. Material leftover from a sewing project can be used for quilts or lining baskets for gifts. So the bigger problem is that I now have a clutter problem.
For the past three weeks I have been sorting boxes and packing boxes and working around the …
Read MoreSmall Changes, Big Results
This year I am focused on progress. I love that quote, “Progress, not perfection.” This is the year of looking at my life, my journey (not comparing myself to others) and making small changes, big results.
There are too many opportunities to compare or set ourselves up for failure with unattainable goals or unspecific resolutions. “I want to be a better mom” means nothing without an action plan. A clear definition of what “better” looks like, for me being more PRESENT can be achieved with action steps.
Last week I started a new habit. I made a small change to wake up extra early and do devotions and my workout in the morning before the girls wake up.
When I evaluated my daily habits, I realized I do so much to be home with the girls: balancing passions/teaching/working/etc, but I wasn’t really THERE. Do you know what I mean? I felt like I was saying, ” not right now,” “after I finish this,” “after my workout,” TOO MUCH and I wanted to be more fully present.
Instead I want to say:
“Yes, I can play with you.
Yes, let’s color.
Yes, we can go to the park.”
It’s hasn’t been easy making this change, but I’m LOVING IT. Not only do I feel more present, but I have way more energy in the morning and I’m having FUN!!
This week we made 2 play dates after school, something before I was less willing to do because I NEEDED that nap time for a break and time for me. Now, with this new schedule, I’ve had time for me and I can focus more on quality time for the girls.
I encourage you to do the same. Look at your life/day/habits currently. What is one area you need to work on?
Intentionality
I wanted to wish each one of you, our followers, a Happy New Year. I have been thinking about how to develop a stronger and more vibrant community this year. I am not necessarily looking for “new friends” just a way to enhance the friendships I already have with a depth of intimacy that includes accountability and mentoring and more. I want to be intentional in my relationships, taking more time to learn about the things that make my friends’ hearts glad and the things that cause them to struggle. I want to have authentic friendships that share joys as well as sorrows; true friends that share one another’s burdens. Over the years, I have experienced this kind of friendship and I long for it now. I know that my biggest challenge is to have more “margins” in my busy schedule and I am willing to do something to change this. I want to be someone who is available when my friends need a listening ear and a compassionate heart.
I want to be more intentional in my prayer life. When I make a commitment to pray for my family and friends, I want to hear from God to better understand how to pray. This will be a discipline that will benefit me as well as those I am praying for. It will be a blessing to my heart to become the kind of friend that I am seeking-a person of integrity, sincerity, authenticity and committed to pray for each of you this year as God molds and shapes you into the men and women He has called you to be. I will begin by praying that each of you finds peace and calmness in your busy lives so you can “be still and know God” in a more intimate …
Read MoreA Time to Believe
Christmas is a season of wonder and joy. The simple pleasures of this season fill my heart with so much happiness. I love spending time starting new and keeping old traditions, and making memories with the people I love.
One of my favorite traditions is family time at Disneyland. It is truly a magical place during this season and a great way to celebrate all things Christmas. While we were there this past week we watched the holiday firework spectacular, Believe! The word that inspired this post.
BELIEVE in Christmas.
B is for BIRTH. The true reason for the season is the Birth of Jesus, the Newborn King. If you look closely at this story, you can see that all the magic and joy of the season truly comes from his birth – the angels singing and proclaiming his coming, the gift giving from the Wise Men, the star, and the wonder of a king coming not as a man sitting on a thrown but as a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, laying in a manger. Share the story of Christmas with your family in fun ways like, Star From Afar or our favorite Christmas Story Advent Calendar.
E is for ENJOYMENT. Look for ways to enjoy this season and make memories. Find events in your local community and start new traditions with your family or pass on traditions from your childhood to your children!
L is for LIGHTS. Put up lights on your tree, in your house, on your house, then plan a fun family adventure to walk around your neighborhood and look at lights. This is a great way to get outside and enjoy time together. As you walk around talk about what it might have been like for the Wise Men to follow …
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