Just a regular day

So here's a day in my life...my rather boring life I might add...

Felt terrible this morning, took allegra. Felt better once I got to work. While at work, I read All You magazine (sold at wal-mart, great high value coupons inside) and I also read a new Taste of Home. Cheesecake issue-YUCK!

Billy was home sick all day, probably will be tomorrow too, so he was in bed sleeping when I got home. I cleaned up the house a bit, tried winning some swagbucks (hit my goal for the day!), then I woke him up to see if he'd still like dinner.

Made a new spicy bbq chicken recipe from allrecipes.com. Love the dinner spinner app!
(btw, will probably post recipes and thoughts on them in the future)

Chicken was DELICIOUS! had a really nice kick to it... franks redhot, ketchup, vinegar, mustard, garlic, onion, etc.

Then I watched Army Wives and GCB at my mom's house.

Devotion today was on time slipping away, and how God meant for us to take time and relax now and then, and that each day we should start off by asking God what He wants us to do with each moment He gives us.

Makes a TON of sense...now to put in to practice!

XO

Swag

Link: Swagbucks.com

This is the site I use to earn free Amazon giftcards. Although there are a bunch of other prizes and giftcards available.


My goal is to earn enough swagbucks to do a majority of my holiday/birthday shopping for free.


Swagbucks are earned through searching, daily deals, special offers, swagbucks tv, swagbucks games, coupons, and many other 'tasks'.


I earn most of mine through special offers, search, and coupons.


Currently, swagbucks is running a special called March Swagness, where there is a daily goal, and when achieved, you earn 10% in bonus swagbucks. If you acheive your goal each day, your bonus doubles.


I'm loving this. I have earned more this week then I have since joining late last year. It gives me incentive.


It also helps that swagbucks is my homepage and main search engine, and I always take the daily poll and the NOSO (no obligation special offers), which can be done each day and earn 3 swagbucks, taking less than 2 minutes.


I haven't tried the SB TV or SB games, but I hear they are fun/easy to earn. SB offers surveys too, but I have heard very mixed reviews. I'll post again once I have tried these out.


The amount of swagbucks you can earn per day will vary based on time you want to put into it, and what is currently being offered, but it doesn't need to cost any money (unless you take advantage of their daily deals or special offers, which is kind of like earning "cash back" on purchases, but in the form of swagbucks), and if I can earn points for free, and get prizes in return...


Why not?


So join. It takes 5 minutes or less. Give it a try, check it out. And please, if you don't mind, use the link in this post. It is a referral link, so I earn swagbucks when you do. If that bothers you, just type in swagbucks.com. 


Next post::: Money Saving Mom and Hip2save

And two shall become one

This man is the reason I started going to Church. This man is the reason I am now in training to be a youth leader. This man is the reason I am who I am today, and the reason I am where I am today. He's the reason I want to have kids. The reason I want to be a mom and a wife. The reason I wake up every morning <3

Tithe and Today

I tithe. Not always 10% though. It's a highly debatable, highly controversial, highly personal thing.

The Church needs people to give.

 But it shouldn't be done because you feel like you HAVE to do it. It's a choice. You should want to give.

All we have is given to us by God. Why wouldn't we want to thank him by giving a portion of it back, to further His will for us all. So each week, I give. Because I want to, and I enjoy the blessings I receive for doing so.

-testimony time-
I wanted to go out for lunch today with my grandparents and the pastor and his wife. I wanted my sister to go too. I offered to pay, even though I am short on money. So I checked my wallet, knowing I had around $10 in cash, only to find I had a $20 bill in another section of my wallet, which I use for money I'm not supposed to spend, and I have NO CLUE why that $20 was there. Praise God, now I have $20 which will be used for gas or WeighDown basics part 2, because praise God once again, my grandparents paid for lunch for both my sister and I. I believe, without a doubt, that this is because I tithe.

<3

"Never stop praying." 1 Thessalonians 5:17 (NLT)

How many times have you prayed today? I certainly do not keep track, however I know I could do better.


Prayers do not need to be long, do not need to be full of 'beautiful' words, or be said in a certain place/at a certain time.


I could be praying as I'm typing, driving in the car, listening to music, cleaning my house, etc.


Prayer is needed. Prayer is necessary. Prayer is NOT complicated. God knows your problems before you do, so there isn't much explaining needed. 


Short, sweet, and simple. 


Never cease praying. It's like talking to your best friend. He wants to hear what you have to say. He wants to know you, to have a relationship with you. Pray to Him, then listen to what He has planned for you, and watch for your prayers to be answered.


<3


I'll admit it. I don't pray a lot. I have good days full of prayer, and then I can go a couple days without thinking about it. Lately I have been doing pretty well with prayer. It helps me in my WeighDown journey. But I still can improve. A lot. So don't worry if you don't feel you have the perfect prayer life. It's a work in progress. Jesus still loves you :) 

Good deals.

I must give a HUGE amount of credit to a few sites for saving me TONS of money.


hip2save.com
totallytarget.com
swagbucks.com
and
moneysavingmom.com


They all have facebook too, so it's easy to stay caught up on deals. 
My $35 cart of food at Target today cost me $8 OOP (out of pocket),
thanks to gift card deals, target coupons, and target's debit card. 


Just a quick intro to what I use, and how much I love it. I hope these sites help you all out in some way!


I'm especially loving moneysavingmom lately. Christian based, lots of deals, and articles on living life simpler/easier :)

Inadequacy

In Sunday's message, it was mentioned that the closer you get to following God's plan, the more inadequate you tend to feel.


I'm assuming it's because you are following God's plan, which is not necessarily your plan.


Billy and I went to our first youth group event yesterday. For those of you who do not know, here's the background:

[[[ Billy made me go to church in late 2008. I became a true believer in early 2010. We both attended his church in his hometown. (30 minutes from where we lived) We both were highly involved in teaching the children. Billy has always felt drawn to youth group, it's what got him in to the church. In late 2011, we were approached by the church I grew up in, they were looking for 2 people to take over the youth group. Well, apparently God's plan was to take us out of our comfort at our current church, and have us jump in to training to be youth leaders. ]]]

Anyways, inadequacy. I'm feeling it. There is so much I don't know, so much I need to learn about the kids, about the church, so much to learn and grow in my relationship with God. I'm hoping this means I am doing what God wants me to do. I don't want to let these kids down. 


I'll expand more on this in another post.