Coupons...

I'm all about saving money. Who isn't?

Ethan and I do a pretty good job of trying to get the best deal when shopping, eating, or just buying anything. He is a very good comparable shopper, and that has rubbed off on me more and more.

One thing that I have always seen the advantage of and never tried is using coupons. I guess I never wanted to take the time to look for the coupons and cut them out or take up even more time at the grocery store checkout line while the cashier scans my hundreds of coupons. (You know you hate getting stuck behind someone like that in line).

However, things have changed. Groceries are getting more and more expensive, cost of living is getting more and more expensive, gas is more expensive...starting to get the picture.

As I look to the future, I don't see those costs going down anytime soon, and we would someday like to have a family. When I think about the amount of money my parents spent on groceries for us kids when we were all at home, I cringe when I think about our future store runs.

I am starting to come around to the idea of searching for coupons, clipping, and caring whether or not I make the person behind me in line wait a little longer to check out.

My "new" cousin Dana, sent me a link to another blogger who lives right here in Wichita and shops at the Dillons stores around me. She blogs about her coupon savings and shows that it can be doable without spending hours and hours. This blog has given me a reason to at least give it a try. Check her out at:

Money Saving Mommy

We'll see how this goes. I'm hoping to have some success with this!

"Unanswered Prayers"

That used to be one of my favorite Garth Brooks songs. One I grew up listening to, enjoying the melody, and singing along and wishing that my legs were long enough to touch the floor while I sat in the chair.

You know how sometimes you did things as a kid and didn't realize the importance of it until much later in life.

That was me, when that song came on the radio the other day and I began to sing along, just as I did when I was 8.

Now I get it.

I started to think about the meaning of the words "sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers..." and thinking about my life and how many times I prayed for something that didn't come.

That my parents wouldn't be so "old fashioned" and let me do what I wanted...

That I was friends with the "popular group" that went to parties and had boyfriends/girlfriends...

That I was skinny like the other girls...

That I would be a archaeologist...

That I would find a college out of the state of Kansas...

That the guy I thought I loved would finally "come to his senses..."

Now that I sit here thinking of that song and how wonderfully Blessed my life is, I can't imagine what I would be like today if any of those prayers had been answered.

That song was a great reminder for me, as my husband and I start to pray for things in our future, to keep in mind that God always has a plan for us. He may not answer our prayers the way we think...but He always has a better plan.

Red One!

Whack! Someone just got "Slug-Bugged"!

Two and a half years ago, that someone was me. For the first time in our relationship Ethan had felt comfortable enough with me to punch my left shoulder as I sat in the passenger seat of the truck driving through Wichita. Could this be the same loving and caring man that I was falling for???

But then it dawns on me...This is exactly the man I'm falling for. Part of what attracted me to him in the first place is his joking, sarcastic personality. Playing the "slug bug" game like we are kids is exactly up his ally!

So it began. The next year or so I was getting slugged much more often than I was doing the slugging. Playing constant "Slug Bug" with a guy who can tell the make and model of a car from half a mile away didn't give me much of a chance. He even was able to find probably the one and only VW Beetle in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil...yep that's right, he even slugged me on our honeymoon!

However, as time has gone by I have become much more adept at picking out those little bugs and am now slugging him almost as many times as he gets me. It's an unspoken rule in our car...you sit next to one of us and you better be on the look out! (I even got my sister 5 times in one day while we went shopping!)

Sometimes I laugh when I picture us 40 years from now driving down the road scanning the road and parking lots just waiting for the opportunity to yell "Red one!"

Holiday Highlights!

A little insight to my Holiday Season for 2010...

E and I traveled home to Burlington for Thanksgiving with my family this year. It was again, as always, a great trip home with much laughter, food, and games. Everyone was home for the first time in a long time, which makes my mom so happy.

E's parents spent their Thanksgiving at the casinos in Las Vegas as they always do. I sent a 20 with my father-in-law to try and win it big at Keno. I didn't win...

Both E and I spent the last week coughing and hacking our way through some kind of sickness. No fever, no throwing up (thank goodness) and no missed days from work, but made for a miserable week between the both of us. Thankfully we are on the healthy side again!

3 days left until a much needed break from work. E is going snowboarding in Colorado, and since I have no desire to strap 6 foot polls to my feet in an attempt to try and increase my chances of ending up in some kind of cast. I will be remaining here cleaning, shopping, and finding other ways to occupy my time.

I will be spending my first Christmas away from my family...ever. I am handling this surprisingly well. I think this is due to two reasons. 1) E has a great family and I really enjoy spending time with them. 2) I will be able to go home and see my family over New Years and my mom and sister will be coming up to go shopping while E is away snowboarding.

I'm handling this year's winter better than last year for some reason. I still don't like the cold, but I am not walking around this year with numb fingers and toes like I did last year. Although, I could be saying something different come February.

I still have not gotten E's Christmas present... I better get on that!

Christmas Lights

I love Christmas lights. All kinds; big, small, white, multicolored. I love how they welcome me into the Christmas season with their twinkling. I love to see how different families put up their lights each year. My parents always have a single string of white lights lining the front of our house with a big white star on the peak of our roof. While my neighbor has every possible type of light up in no particular order. Last year Ethan and I had blue lights in our bushes. This year we added a nice big tree with white lights to the front window.

I think my love for lights comes from a tradition that my family has done every year that I can remember Christmas. Each Christmas Eve we would load up in the car/van/station wagon...all of us, even the dogs (this got increasingly harder as we got older) and drive around the town looking at all the pretty lights. We knew that while we were gone looking at lights Santa would begin his journey around the world with our house. So of course as soon as we went around the block we all asked and begged to go back home straight away and see if Santa had made it yet. Mom and dad always made us continue all throughout the town. I'm very thankful they did.

Ethan even helped add to the Christmas season by taking me around Wichita to see all the beautiful lights the rich people put up when we were dating! I can't wait to do it again this year. :)

New Blog!

I have decided to expand my blogging to other things besides random chatter. I took one of my new hobbies/interests/loves for cooking and created a new blog all about my adventures in the kitchen. I hope you enjoy!

http://barefootinthekitchen-jill.blogspot.com/

28 Years

I just recently turned 28. I am very happy with where I am in my journey of life. I have decided that to celebrate my 28 years I would write a post about the 28 things I have learned while still remembering that I have much more to learn...

28. There is always room for ice cream no matter how full after a meal. Ice cream seems to melt on in there.

27. Shaving your legs for the first time is an awesome feeling...until the next day when you realize that it really doesn't last that long.

26. Teachers make mistakes, the difference between those teachers we loved and those we hated was how they reacted to it.

25. Habits are very hard to break.

24. You will find that more people will be polite and treat you well if you start the conversation with a smile and a sincere "how are you today."

23. It is much easier to clean up the kitchen right after dinner than wait till the following morning to do everything. This is something I have learned but still have a hard time following through with.

22. My Mother makes the best breakfast casserole.

21. The parents that don't worry about being the "cool parent" or their kid's friend are the best parents.

20. Kids will make mistakes...even the best kids will do something wrong once in a while.

19. Being with someone who makes you laugh is far more important than if they spend hours in the gym trying to make "washboard abs." The personality stays...the abs don't.

18. Money isn't everything, but life is much less stressful when you have a job.

17. The family activities and traditions as a kid that I thought were silly or embarrassing are the one's I want to carry on with my own family someday.

15. Swimming is one of the best skills I learned early on when my mom took us to the pool everyday. It is a skill that I believe to be one of the most important a child can learn.

14. The Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776, 2+2=4, and K stands for Potassium on the Periodic Table.

13. Sundays are best spent relaxing and enjoying a day with family or just snuggled on the couch with a good book or movie.

12. Coffee and beer are acquired tastes. I have acquired a taste for both.

11. Men prefer long hair on women. Although once you get married...anything goes :)

10. It is always important to remember your blessings and thank God for everything good in your life.

9. The song Lola by the Kinks needs to be listened to all the way through before playing it at school.

8. When dad says your curfew is 12...he means 12.

7. Every girl has in her head what she thinks is the perfect way she would be proposed to. It's never as good as the way he does it.

6. House plants appreciate water.

5. Those people in high school who were constantly surrounded by drama, are the adults who seem to still have drama in their lives.

4. I would never want to be President.

3. Life really is better when you have someone to share it with. If you don't think so try being alone for a long period of time.

2. Age is a matter of perception.

1. We never stop learning.