The Big Thirteen!

Last week, the Hubs and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary.  A huge milestone compared to the national average for marriages today.

It hasn't been easy.  It hasn't always been fun.  And many times we've had to CHOOSE to love despite our feelings. 

"Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, or self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no records of wrongs...it always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."  1 Corinthians 13:4-7

I am so thankful that I never gave up. I'm thankful that he never gave up on me.  I'm thankful we trusted God and he brought us to a place of true love. 

I am so proud of this man.  God has brought him through an incredible journey and he has persevered.  He has fallen more in love with Jesus than ever before.  He is an amazing father and husband and I couldn't be happier!

Summer Deals

A few weeks ago, I popped into CVS to grab a couple things and saw a woman with 3 carts full of chairs.  I quickly realized that the employees were marking all summer items 90% off!  Woo, hoo!!!!!!!!  Though the crazy woman with 3 carts bought nearly everything on the shelf, I managed to snag a few deals.

I purchased everything below for around $13.00!  I may be rusty in the coupon game, but I scored big time!

The 7 bottles of sunscreen alone would have cost more than $13.00.  I haven't been able to dedicate the time to my coupon game that I'm used to, so I was super excited to score some cheap items for next summer without all the hassle of cutting coupons and watching ads. 

Proof that even if couponing isn't your gig, you can score some great deals if you buy ahead during sales and clearance events!

A Journey Through Unemployment, part 5

(to see previous posts, click on the unemployment link)

I few days ago, I discussed just a few of the major struggles we faced during our unemployment journey.  Today I want to focus on our blessings and where we are today.

To say that God blessed us during this journey would be an understatement.  He DID NOT bless us financially...but he did bless us in the ares of our lives in which it meant the most.

I mentioned in the last post, that our most difficult struggle came in the area of our marriage.  I'm happy to report that God took those 10 plus months to work on our marriage and bring it to a place of true wedded bliss.  I mean the kind of woo hoo honeymoon wedded bliss.  Ok, maybe it's not like the movies, because hello, this is real life, but we are happier  than we were 10 years ago!

I wish I could explain how, but I truly cannot use adequate words.  When we lost our income, we realized that if everything gets taken from us, all that would remain is our marriage.  I look back and realize that God had to bring us to a true place of complete brokenness in order to restore our relationship.  It happened through a great amount of prayer.  A great deal of conviction and many, many tears.  God surrounded us with Godly friends and an amazing therapist to help us deal with our emotions and all the junk we brought into this journey.  God healed our hearts and gave us the most amazing gift of all; a God centered marriage.

We were blessed is countless other ways.  Our family grew closer together.  We focused on what mattered and quit worrying about all the things we couldn't purchase.  God gave us perspective.  We had friends facing horrible trials such as childhood cancer, breast cancer and divorce.  Our small financial journey was peanuts compared to those.

God provided small needs such as gifted clothing for my girls and some wants such as Christmas gifts.  In fact, we had the best Christmas ever!  Not because of what we received, but in the form of family togetherness.  I  mean seriously, it snowed on Christmas day in Georgia for the first time in like 100 years!  I know God did that for us!  Hee hee!

God showed us who our true friends were and surprised us in some new relationships.  We never felt that we were alone or unloved.

We decided to make some changes in our girls' schooling.  This "never ever going to homeschool" momma, decided to homeschool.  Wow!  God provided that direction and the funding make that change. 

After 10 and a half  months of unemployment, a drained savings and emotional roller coaster, God provided Kyle with  a job.  It wasn't the rainbow after the storm I had envisioned.  It was far from the perfect job.  It was over 30% less than his previous salary, it was a 37 mile commute, and it was a temp to possible full time position with no insurance or benefits.  However, it was God's gift and we were grateful.


As far as where we are today, you would be surprised to know that we are unemployed again.  It's quite ironic that Kyle would be let go from his 6 month temp to perm job as I ended this post. 

I don't know why and I don't know what the plan is.  I'm scared, sad, emotional and frustrated.  I thought our journey was over.  I'm not sure if our finances will sustain us, however, I do know that our marriage and God will.  So, I end this post with a verse I'm holding onto:

"For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name."
Psalm 33:21

A Journey Through Unemployment part 4

(to see previous posts, click on the unemployment label to the right)

During the last few weeks I've been blogging on the topic of unemployment.  As I read over my past posts I get emotional, and frustrated as I rehash such a difficult year, yet I'm thankful for how far we've come.  I also feel like I have left out so many things I wanted to say, but realize I may never be able to adequately write about all we that went through.

That being said, I wanted to discuss some of the struggles we experienced on our Journey.  We had faith, emotional and marriage struggles.  I must admit that our biggest struggle was getting to a place in which we fully relied on God.  A place in which we quit saying to ourselves, "when you get a job _______." 

We realized that we had to live each day and quit worrying about tomorrow.  We had to take each day as it came and pray for God's strength to get through it.  We had to accept our new "normal". Sometimes this was easy, but most times this was very difficult. 

I think we had in our minds that the Journey would only last a short time.  When we hit 3 months, we thought ok, maybe 6 months.  Then at 6 months, we thought surely any day now.  Then it hit me one day that it could be a year.  Luckily, God gave me a scripture one day that I never thought would be applicable to our situation.   

James 1:17
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above"

I've used this scripture before, but always in referring to our children.  However, on that particular day, God was telling me that Kyle's job was a gift.  He was going to give him that gift in his own timing.  I had never thought of employment as a gift, yet on that day I did.

I began to dive into God's word and focus on being the most supportive wife I could.  The best mother I could, and most of all, I began to strengthen my walk with the Lord.

Unemployment took a huge toll on Kyle emotionally and it wasn't always easy for me to be his cheerleader when he needed it.  I was exhausted all the time from working and taking care of a family (praise you full time working mommas). I wasn't always the example of Christ's unconditional love.  However, God got me through it.  The more I took time to be still and truly listen to God speak, the more it seemed I could handle.

The scariest struggle we faced was the toll this journey took on our marriage.  While I don't feel this is the place to expose those personal details, I will say that it took awhile for me to understand why God would allow us to face such a journey while our marriage was so very brittle. 

We were thrown into this journey in which we had to figure out how to work together.  All of a sudden we were together 24 hours a day.  We had to determine our roles in this new "normal."  Small things such as who was going to make dinner became situations of resentment and dispute. 

Learning to figure out these new roles, learning to divide responsibilities and learning to humble myself was not easy.  God had to do some major work in my heart and praise him for getting me to listen!

Next week, I will finish this series with our blessings and where we are today. Let's say you may be surprised at where God has us now!

Jelly Belly Soda, Cupckakes and Smores!

Below are some sweet pictures of how we celebrated Rylie's birthday with her friends.  She hosted (ahem, I hosted) her very first "big" sleepover.  We had Jelly Belly soda, cupcakes,and smores!  It was a ton of fun and though they wore me out, I absolutely loved having all 7 of those sweet little girls take over my house!

A Journey Through Unemployment, part 3

A continuation on our Journey through Unemployment.(since I do not know how to link to a prior post, click on the label unemployment on the right to see other posts)

Last week, I discussed our infatuation with Dave Ramsey and today I'd like to share some additional ways in which God provided financially through couponing and odd jobs.

Prior to unemployment, I began couponing.  I learned to score deals by doubling coupons with store sales, stockpiling and playing the drugstore game.  Some might even say that I became quite obsessed with the process.  I would have to admit that I did.

I scoured blog world and followed sites such as moneysavingmom.com and southernsavers.com.
Couponing helped me stretch our food and household necessity budget further.  I was able to stock up on basic cleaning supplies, toiletries and food items. I found coupons not only for necessities, but for splurges as well.  It's amazing how many free or nearly free meals we scored at restaurants as well as miscellaneous things such as coffee, movie, and gifts. Most of all, I learned how to spend less and spend wiser.  All skills I would need when our budget was dramatically decreased.


God provided a part time job for me.  A few months before the job loss I began substituting at the girls' school for something to do and some extra money.  I say God provided the job, because during the next school year I worked as much as possible.  It didn't bring in a large amount of income, but it helped.  The crazy thing is, that if I hadn't started working in the school prior to the job loss, I never would have had the opportunity to work the following school year.  You see, the county had major teacher lay-offs and did not hire additional substitutes for an entire year!


God also provided numerous opportunities for Kyle to work odd jobs.  He would do anything asked.  He hung lighting for a church ministry, ran wires for another, remodeled a bathroom, layed tile, screened a pool room, and so on.  He never turned down an opportunity no matter what the pay was.  He worked hard and took every odd job as a blessing. 

Just when we thought we couldn't make it, God would provide something for us.

In my next post I will share some of our blessings and struggles.

The Baby Turned Eight

This sweet baby of mine turned 8 this week.  I sometimes have the habit of taking a trip down memory lane each year when my girls have a birthday.  I think about being pregnant with them.  I think about the joyful day they were born.  I think about how quick the years have passed and wish I had really savored them.  And, I think about how I wish I could freeze time.

My dear Rylie came into this world 3 and a half weeks early.  She has been full of spunk and spirit from day one.  She is silly and outgoing.  She can be serious and goofy at the same time.  She is our family free-spirit and reminds me to slow down and at times, live for the moment.

I'm so thankful for a child that is so different from myself.  God gave me this sweet girl to make me less serious (at times) and make me take the time to "smell the roses."  I love this little chicka-doodle with all my being.

Happy Birthday Rylie Grace!