Sunday, January 31, 2010

How Do You Share The Lord With Others?

What's your story? How do you share the Lord Jesus Christ with others? I am not talking about going out and handing out "gospel tracks" to everyone that you see, I am talking about how can you share Christ with others. Being a missionary for the Lord doesn't require us having to go "over-seas" to a foreign land, we can be one right where we live. In fact, if we are a Christian, we have accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior, we are called to be missionaries.

Just having an everyday ordinary conversation is an easy way to talk to someone about the Lord. How do you turn an ordinary conversation into a conversation about the Lord? You can ask, "Do you think that there is more to life than what you are experiencin?" From the answer that you receive from that question you can go in a lot of different directions. Think about it....

Friday, January 15, 2010

The Brain


If you could open the skull and look inside of it, what is the first thing that you would see? The brain and the brain's size. Did you know that in dinosaurs the brain represents 1/100,000th of the body's weight, whales 1/10,000th , elephants 1/600th. Then you have us, the human race our brain is 1/45th. The brain in a mouse is 1/40th of it's body's weight. Thus, being that there are exceptions to the rule that the ratio of brain to body weight provides a clue to a certain species intellect.

Why is the brain important? Because the brain is the body's boss! It tells the rest of the body what to do, all of the time, even if you are not aware of it. It controls your talking and thinking, the way you move your body, how you feel, how you learn and how you remember. But it also controls the beating of your heart and if you feel sleepy or awake.

So, if the brain is the boss, then who is the brain's helper? Why that would be the nervous system of course! The brain is like the computer that controls all the functions of your body and the nervous system is like a huge network that relays messages back and forth from it to different parts of the body. How does it do this, this type of messageing system? It does it via the spinal cord, you know the one thing in your body that if it breaks or snaps you can be paralized? That's right...the spinal cord. The spinal cord runs from the brain all the way down the back, it has threadlike nerves that run and branch out to every part of the body and to every organ.

How does this all work? When a message comes into the brain from the body, the brain tells the body what to do or how to react. For instance, if you eat a lemon, the nerves in your tongue send a message to your brain that it taste sour and your brain sends a message back saying oohhh, bitter, and for you to pull it away from your mouth. This is the case unless you LIKE lemons!

How much does the brain weigh? About 3 pounds. How long is the spinal cord? It's about 18 inches long and is about 3/4 inches thick! And what protects the brain and spinal cord? Bone, if not we would have a lot of injuries. Could you imagine not having our brain or spinal cord protected by bone?

So, I guess the saying is true, if you don't use your brain you will loose it! True? I think it is, if you aren't active and get up and go and just sit and do nothing, and by nothing I mean nothing, then you'll loose your brain. And note the picture at the top....can your brain ever actually take a vacation? NO!

And yes dear friends....I started my Psychology class today!


Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Studying and Still Savin'

This morning was another cold morning here for us, it was 19 degrees when we awoke a 6:30. The Hubby took the Bookworm to school and stayed with him while he had his Archery Club. I took the Princess to school so that she wouldn't have to walk in the cold cold cold!Burrrrrrrr

After I straightened up the kids rooms and made their beds and tidied up their bathroom and made mine and the Hubby's bed and changed out of my pjs into warm jogging pants and a long sleeve shirt and socks.......I read the introduction and first chapter in my Psychology book. It is a very big book and the chapters are long, I started at 8 and when I looked up at the clock, it was 11! I did a lot of reading and a lot of studying! I will start and finish chapter 2 tomorrow morning. I will probably try to go ahead and view my two lectures as well, then I can do my assignment ahead of time, it's not due until next Sunday. Classes don't actually start until Monday, but hey, it doesn't hurt to be ahead! Last night I managed to read the introduction and the first chapter in my Theology Book. We are reading Core Christianity. What a great book, I didn't want to stop, but I had to, the first Module is to only read that far. I still have 5 Excerpts and 2 video lectures to watch, then a quiz to take. This Professor likes to give a lot of Excerpts to read, but they are pretty interesting from what I can tell. I am excited about both of the classes and I am praying that I do well in them. Liberty finally has my transcript posted from my other degree and ALL of my classes transfer!!! How awesome is that! That takes care of all of my English's and almost all of my free electives!!! Thank you Lord!

So, even though I am busy with School and Studying, I still managed to find time to clip and save before I went to the Grocery Store today. I had a sort list of things that I needed to pick up so I was just going to go to Wal-mart, but after I pulled the van out of the garage I checked the mail and what do you know, the flyers came today for two local Grocery Stores! I scanned the sale papers and decided that it would be in my best interest to change my direction and go hit Target, then Bi-Lo. With all said and done, I saved $79.51 cents! My bill was $199.30, I saved 56.66 just with using my in store card and then I saved 22. 85 with coupons! Bringing my total bill to $123.40 tax included! And with this store card, you even earn gas perks, which means that you save from 5 to 10 cents when you fill up at the tank! Another great way to save!

Saving takes time, investigate in your area, find the deals, and you can save too!

Monday, January 11, 2010

The Good Things In Life:AKA Blessings

Have you ever stopped and thought about the good things in your life: AKA Blessings? Everyday during my prayer time I always thank God for the many blessings that He has given to me. But, what are those blessings....have you ever really thought about it....if you ever have you would know that we have sooo many blessings that the Lord has given to us that our list would never end. Have you ever made a list, have you ever tried? What better time than now to start your blessings list. Just try it and start one, once that first blessing is written down it's like a chain reaction, you just can't stop!

And while we're at it....be a blessing to someone today!

Friday, January 8, 2010

Staying Frugal

No snow, sleet or rain last night, which is good because if had more than likely School would have been canceled for today and they would have had to make it up on another day that they have off. So that is a plus! Another plus is that the kids have off on Monday, I think the Princess is planning a to go and see a movie with her friends and I think that I will probably take the Bookworm to see one as well.

So my theme for this year is all about being frugal. Three ways I have saved this week. Coupons! I had over 22 dollars in coupons when I went to Wal-mart on Monday to get groceries and other things that we needed for the home. What a way to save by just clipping coupons!

Another way I saved was shopping the sales paper for one of our local grocery stores. They had a great deal of BOGO(buy one get one free) free items in their sale paper. I stocked up on coffee, cereal for the kids and a variety of other items.

The third way I saved was buy looking in the meat department at this grocery store and discovering that although there were great sales going on on their meats, there were also great in them for only $1.99 a pack...these were originally $6.99 a pack reduced to $2.99 then there was a $1.00 coupon on each pack! What a great deal! And if you are thinking that they were probably no good or expired like today....NO, they were good and I bought them yesterday and they didn't expire til the 10th. I also got a similar deal on their Fresh All Natural Pork Boneless Country Style BackRibs. I bought two packs of these as well. They were originally $6.27 marked to $3.65 and they too also had a $1.00 off coupon for a price each of $2.65! Another great deal these too expiring on the 10th. I have always wondered how I could save save save on fresh meats and now I know how!

What are some ways that you have been frugal lately?

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Cold, Cold and Cold....Burrr

South Carolina in the winter time has never been as cold as it has been in the past week, since I was a little girl. And I believe the last time it was this cold was when I was in Elementary School, but even so, then it snowed! And it wasn't just a "dusting", it was a lot of snow!

It has been so cold the past four mornings that the Hubby and I have driven the kids to School. It has been 17 degrees! That is cold, but I do think to myself that we have endured lower temperatures when we lived in Germany, but not so much I don't think when we lived in Italy, but yet it did get cold.

It's so cold that our heater can't keep up, it's almost constantly running. We are wearing layers in the house and are using blankets to cover up with when on the couch watching TV, we have even built a fire several nights in the fireplace. The Hubby and I have our comforter on our bed along with two other quilts on top of the comforter! Plus I have put extra blankets on the kids' beds.

A chance of snow! Yes, there is a chance that we may see some of the white stuff here tomorrow night through early morning on Friday. What am I predicting? I am predicting that the School District here will cancel School on Friday. Even if it snows alittle or a lot, they will close Schools, because it will all probably freeze over and may be not safe to drive on.

So, what will we do if there is no School.....we'll build a fire in the fire place, hang out in our pjs all day, roast marshmallows and Mom will make hot cocoa for the kids! And of course if it snow, we'll have to make snow ice cream. Yum-O!

Old Man Winter definitely came to SC this year!

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Frugal

How do you spend your money? Do you spend spend spend or are you frugal? What does being frugal mean? Our family is frugal, but this year we are going to be really really frugal.



I have always cut coupons and shopped sales and tried to find the best deals on things that we may need. The first place that I go to in a clothing store is to their sale rack. My kids know this and they too, have implemented this. There is nothing wrong with checking out a sale rack before looking at the things that are not on sale. We are very blessed to have two children that do not have to have(or whine to have) "name brand" things like clothes. Our teenage daughter is just as frugal as I am and doesn't care about the name of an item as long as she likes it and will wear it. The only thing that she really wanted recently was a pair of Sperry's(shoes), she got these for Christmas, but she just casually mentioned them and didn't say that she had to have them nor did she beg. How can you better save at department stores before you go there to shop? Pull up the store that you want to go to on the Internet and see if they have a sale going on, and also see if they have an in store coupon that you can also use. I took advantage of this yesterday before I went to JCPenny, and it paid off just putting a few extra five minutes into going to their web-site and printing off a coupon....in the long run, it saved me $15.oo. Shoe Carnival is a great place to go and get shoes for the whole family. They always have buy one pair get a pair half off, plus if you are Military they give a 10% discount on Tuesdays. Most places will give a Military discount, all you have to do is ask, what's the worse that they can say? No! Like our local Movie Theater, they also give a Military discount. I believe a regular admission price is $10.00 and their Military discount is $7.50. Don't forget that Matinees are always cheaper our Matinees are only $7.00. Also, most Restaurants also have meal deals, coupons or Military discounts. All you have to do is look or ask!





Groceries.......unlike when we were stationed in Europe and only had the Commissary to shop at, there are soooo many Grocery Stores here in the States to shop at. But how do you know which one to shop at? It would be nice if it were that simple, but if you want to pay less on groceries, it's going to take a little from your part. First things first, if you have an Aldi, I strongly encourage you to go and check them out. They have very good prices, especially on fresh produce. Although you will not find lots of name brands at Aldi, they are a great place to shop. Because their prices are so low, they do not take coupons and they only take cash or debit cards. Plus to keep their overhead so low, you must bring your own bags or you can purchase them from the store, also, you bag your own groceries. You can check them out at http://www.aldi.com/



Most Grocery Stores have store cards that you can sign up for and get. These cards are worth getting. Most stores that have sales going on will only give the sale price if you have a store card and they scan your card at the register. I know stores such as Kroger, Food Lion and Bi-Lo have store cards. Does it pay off in the long run? You betcha!



Coupons. I am a coupon clipper. Can you save money with clipping coupons? Yes you can! What is the trick with using coupons? Only clip coupons for the items that you use. Look at the sale papers before you go to the Grocery Store(s) to see if you have any coupons for the items that you need to purchase. Also, on buy one get one free items, don't forget that you can also use a coupon too if you have it. Stocking up on items that are on sale or that you have a coupon for is also a good idea. Double coupons, some Grocery Stores offer double coupons, you can find out by visiting that Grocery Stores web-site or by looking at their sale flyer that comes in the mail or newspaper. Most Grocery Stores will let you sign up online to receive their sales or promotion via e-mail, some even offer online coupons and savings. Check it out!

Hitting various Grocery Stores to get the best deals. Yes! I do this, and it pays off in the long run. I look at all of the local Grocery Store sale papers that come in the mail/newspaper and I circle the things that I need from each of them. I then go and get those various items from those stores. Yes, I am going to several places, but it saves my family money, and this is money that we can use for other things. So for me, it does pay off to shop at various stores.

Bulk? Buy bulk? Yes! Buying bulk on some items is the best way to buy them. We are a member at Sam's Club, yes there is a yearly fee to be a member, but it pays off, and yes, they do have a Military Discount on their membership as well. What do I buy in bulk at Sam's Club? Our family gets our paper towels, toilet paper, cat litter, softener, laundry detergent, yogurt, healthy choice entrees, bell peppers and strawberries when in season. I usually make a trip to Sam's Club about every other month.


Other ways to save: Don't eat out as much, pack a lunch if you work or for the kids for school, turn off lights in the house when you aren't in the room where they are on, keep your thermostat on one degree and leave it there do not keep changing it up and down up and down. Doing this will increase your electric bill. Take showers instead of baths, and take quick showers.

Going frugal isn't hard to do.......it's pretty fun to see how much you can save just by taking the extra few minutes of time.

Friday, January 1, 2010

A New Year....2010

Today is the first day of a new year....2010. My day couldn't be better, we are spending the afternoon as a family hanging out at our home. As I type this the Hubby is building a fire in the fireplace while the Bookworm helps, the Princess is sitting on the couch as we watch a show on TV. Later we will have a "traditional" New Year's Day meal of pork, beans, bread and greens. So I will be cooking fried pork chops, field peas, homemade from scratch cornbread and collards. Yummy to the tummy!

The Christmas decorations were taken down this week on Wednesday, so bad luck or good luck, we don't believe in that! Some say take them down before the New Year, other's say take it down after. We've done both and in Europe we left our decorations up until the Europeans did, which was the 7th of January.

Resolutions.....I don't make these, why, people make resolutions all the time and then they break them or don't fullfill them. If you want to exercise or get in shape or start eating right, why wait to til the New Year to start, when you can do it anytime during the year or any month or any day. I plan on spending the coming year exactly how I have spent every past year: living one day at a time and with God being first in all of them. Shouldn't that be how everyone spends their years?

Later tonight we'll shoot fireworks. We picked up some today, actually we bought two big bags of them! It's always fun to set off and watch fireworks. We'll be out in the cold, bundled up and the Hubby and I will probably have a cup of coffee to try and help us stay warm! Who knows we may even build a bonfire in the back yard and roast some marshmellows and I'll fix the kids some hot chocolate too!

Happy New Year and as you start your New Year, remember to keep Jesus first, Others second and Yourself last.(JOY)