Yes, I know that the mind wanders to the relationship with my husband and I.  Although it has previously been strained… we are good right now.  We are in a good place with a healthy amount of talking, loving, hugging, fighting, debating, forgiving, etc.  All those good things that marriage truly mean… yeah we are all those things now.  Which makes me happy and a bit more calm than before.  Is life perfect?  NOT!  Whose life is perfect?  And if your life IS perfect, I don’t want to know!  Seriously.  I am a little bitter.  I don’t want to know about your perfect house and perfect dog and perfect kid and perfect clothes… I don’t care.  (PS… that was not directed at anyone in particular… just the perfect people LOL)

At any rate I have been very torn about Kyleigh’s health.  She does wonderfully for a while and then she crashes and goes into all sorts of crazy things that make us ask questions we shouldn’t have to ask.  She has been on a good stint lately though.  We have been debating about how to handle her Urology needs for a while now.  We go to her doc and we just walk away feeling empty, confused, scared and frustrated.  There are NO OTHER docs that we see that make us feel this way.  Even with all the HARD things that we have had to hear from so many of our docs we still can only remember a handful of times when we felt this way.  We continue to go around about this doc and his place in our life and in our child’s and we just cannot, in good faith, see him being a major part of it much longer.  At some point we have to fight for her “life” sans daily medical madness…. KWIM?  Just some peace and normal… and shopping!  Yes… my daughter is a shopper and I love it!  I will shop til I drop with her.  It really is bad though.  So bad it’s good   I am just so glad that I get to take her to pick out princess dresses and new shoes and tutus and all that fun stuff!  I am glad that she has a fit in the middle of the store because I won’t buy her M&M’s and then by the time I get to the checkout I feel so bad about depriving her of the only calories she might want to consume that day that I buy them anyhow.  I try and make it into a lecture that makes it LOOK like I am in control but it’s pretty obvious that she rules the roost.  We own that… it’s okay!

So in this time of being still… I have been SOOO busy.  Not much “STILL”  has been happening here in our house as there is always a ton to do, but enough “busy”ness that my mind was still which I guess is the point.  Anyway… I laid down the torch on the medical end of things and just waited.  I had been looking into a few options for Urology and found some promising new procedures and perspectives and then it happened.  Yesterday I opened a piece of junk mail from UK just to see if there was a blurb about the Makenna David ER (obviously close to my heart) and there it was.  Or should I say HE was.

Dr. Ali Mahmoud Ziada.  I already have his name memorized!  He is the NEW pediatric Urologist at Kentucky Children’s.  Yes… so he may just be one of MANY specialists but we have been waiting a LONG time for this day.  4 years to be exact!  I am so proud of our little hospital and so glad to be a part of watching it grow and change.  I am also very relieved that we have new hope for a doc to man the trenches of Ky’s Urological health here in Kentucky.  I don’t anticipate that he will be the savior of my daughter’s bladder but I am truly hopeful that this will be the start of a long, healthy, beautifully communicating relationship with him.  I am very tired of looking for someone to trust.  I know that the docs she sees now are great, excellent even but how can I, in good faith, hand her over to someone that I just don’t feel RIGHT about?  I can’t.  That is the simple answer.  I knew that.  So we waited.

Our wait is over on August 31.  I feel a bit like I am “cheating” on the Cincy docs but oh well.  When it comes to your child… I cannot help what everyone else thinks or feels about them.  I can only do what I know is right and trust that I have someone bigger than ME in control!  August we will meet this new doc and I am so excited.  It always brings a bit of trepidation though… the “what if’s” seems to come barreling at you like flies splattering on your windshield… you don’t see them coming until they are already a mess on the window!  I am torn as to whether to try and track down all the medical records or whether I just want to let this person do their OWN evaluation and go from there.  It is time for her bi-annual VCUG etc so its not like I would be torturing her for no reason.  Who knows… so much excitement and fear at the same time… it’s all very scary yet familiar.Recent Comments:

• XXX says A tip to save some cash when enjoying movies it that instead of heading to the movies on a busy [more]
• daphne says I JUST LOVE YOU!!! You always amaze me. You’re wonder womman of another kind!! I know it’s hard to BE [more]
• Jen says We are currently going through a pregnancy possibly affected by VACTERL…having more tests run. Would like to discuss some [more]
• Jen says Hi Amber! It’s lunchablemommy – actually not on A full cup anymore, so I wanted to send you my [more]
• Tracy says Love it! That is something Maggie would do. She loves Disney Princess stuff too. LOL. [more]

• January 12, 2010 -- Coming Home!
• October 26, 2009 -- Do not be anxious about anything…
• February 23, 2010 -- So it begins, Kyleigh’s next medical journey.
• December 15, 2009 -- One Day closer…
• October 16, 2009 -- Two down…….. they’re dropping like flies!

So I walk into the bathroom this afternoon to find my child filling up a diaper disposal bag (read: newspaper bags that we use for diapers because they are perfect and someone gave me a WHOLE BUNCH of them!) with WATER.  I started to freak out and Troy said “No…………… ask her what she is doing.”  She never stopped filling the bag and just said “I am filling it up because I want to carry my mermaid around and MERMAIDS NEED WATER!”  I mean… geez mom.  What planet are you on?  Don’t you know anything!?

Thanks Barbie and the Mermaid tale…. now I have a child carrying around a bag full of water and a mermaid all over my house!

I couldn’t do anything but laugh really.

Recent Comments:

• XXX says A tip to save some cash when enjoying movies it that instead of heading to the movies on a busy [more]
• daphne says I JUST LOVE YOU!!! You always amaze me. You’re wonder womman of another kind!! I know it’s hard to BE [more]
• Jen says We are currently going through a pregnancy possibly affected by VACTERL…having more tests run. Would like to discuss some [more]
• Jen says Hi Amber! It’s lunchablemommy – actually not on A full cup anymore, so I wanted to send you my [more]
• Tracy says Love it! That is something Maggie would do. She loves Disney Princess stuff too. LOL. [more]

• August 26, 2010 -- Be Still…
• June 29, 2010 -- Call me crazy… but we had a yard sale!
• May 7, 2010 -- David had Goliath… Kyleigh had THE POTTY!
• February 23, 2010 -- So it begins, Kyleigh’s next medical journey.
• January 14, 2010 -- Ky’s new do…

All of the kid’s clothing from baby to 3 years old are GONE.  Done… It would have been a little more emotional if I had not been still buried in boxes up to my eyes!  I want the space more than I wanted the “stuff”!  So I did it!  By Sunday I was selling clothing 5/$1 and people had come from other cities (via Craigslist ad) to buy the clothing and I must have heard 15 stories of people buying for children who had nothing!  Made my heart warm to know that Kyleigh closet has dressed many children whose parents and grandparents could not afford it otherwise!

At any rate… the night before the sale I only had 2 hours to sleep between setting up and starting the sale and I could not sleep so I watched… one of my favorite shows which Troy likes but could take or leave… Say Yes to the Dress!  The last episode had a bride that was fighting stage 3 breast cancer and I cried all the way through.  The Kleinfeld rep worked hard and got her a 10,000 dress fro $1999 and I thought to myself… wow.  THAT is where I want Kyleigh to go for her dress.  Even knowing local shop owners here… I still want her to have THAT experience!  I also thought… omg… how much will HER dress cost by the time she is old enough?!  HAH!  I had better start saving NOW!

Which gave me an idea.  Kyleigh has so many beautiful dresses.  She loves them!  Always has.  As I was selling off her clothes I kept a tally in my head and by the end of the day, her DRESS sales alone were close to $50.  So today began Kyleigh’s Wedding Dress fund!  I am headed to the bank to start her savings account that will be ear marked for her wedding dress.   I have also decided.. that I will keep the money from ANY dress that I sell of hers and put it into this account.  Hopefully in 20 years from now there will be enough in there to buy her the dress (maybe even WEDDING) of her dreams!

I guess maybe because I see a wedding a week it reinforces to me that I want her to have everything she ever wants.  I don’t want her to have to compromise on one single thing!  My wedding day was amazing but it was on a budget.  There were so many things I would have done differently but you cannot change that day once it is over.  Every parent wants to give their child the world but I am determined to make at least, the wedding day, be anything and everything she wants it to be!  I only hope, that when Kyleigh gets married, she will be able to begin to understand what that day will mean to her mommy.  Too many days of her life, I have been forced to think about what if she never gets to pick out a wedding dress!   These are things that no parent should ever have to focus on and I will not think about them unless I have to.  I want to look at her, everyday for the rest of her life, and wonder what she will look like on her wedding day, instead of thinking of what she DID look like all those hospital days.

Even though she may have looked like this on the day that I started saving for her wedding….

Some day she will be wearing this:

And it won’t be hard to spot me.  I will be the one, in the front row, who is crying so hard she cannot see straight.  I will have earned those tears of joy with so many tears of sorrow and I will spend every day, from now until then, making sure that I do everything in my power to make each day, for the rest of her life, a dream come true!Recent Comments:

• XXX says A tip to save some cash when enjoying movies it that instead of heading to the movies on a busy [more]
• daphne says I JUST LOVE YOU!!! You always amaze me. You’re wonder womman of another kind!! I know it’s hard to BE [more]
• Jen says We are currently going through a pregnancy possibly affected by VACTERL…having more tests run. Would like to discuss some [more]
• Jen says Hi Amber! It’s lunchablemommy – actually not on A full cup anymore, so I wanted to send you my [more]
• Tracy says Love it! That is something Maggie would do. She loves Disney Princess stuff too. LOL. [more]

• August 26, 2010 -- Be Still…
• June 30, 2010 -- Because Mermaids need water…
• May 7, 2010 -- David had Goliath… Kyleigh had THE POTTY!
• February 23, 2010 -- So it begins, Kyleigh’s next medical journey.
• January 14, 2010 -- Ky’s new do…

I realized, finally, that feeling burnt out and maxed out was mostly, my OWN doing.  Sucks to say it but true just the same.

I need to take time to catch all my bloggy friends up on my world but until I have time for that insanely long post I will give you the short version:

March 20 (something…) we closed on our old and moved OUT!.  Signed sealed delivered… done!  We moved INto my parent’s home.  At this point… my parent’s new “apartment” is still months away from completion because we never anticipated the house selling that quickly (although we prayed and hoped it would be so).  So… here we are … one big happy family.  Most days.

April was a work month.  Work on this and that and more of this and that.  And work until you think you cannot work anymore and its STILL not done.  Feeling a bit hopeless and thinking there is no end in sight.  Oiy vey.

May.  My little sister is in a car accident and totals her boyfriend’s car.  Now I would be the first one to razz on my sister about her driving faux pa’s but this one… truly not her fault!  So she is minus 1 job and plus 1 wheelchair due to a surgery that took 18 pins an helluva long plate to put her ankle back together.  This means… yes folks… enter younger sister into house and boyfriend for most waking hours of the day.

June comes with its necessary sundries.  WEDDING season is upon us and to say I have not a minute to breathe is probably right.  But here I sit blogging… how is that?  LOL

So… now that you are caught up… (oh yeah and somewhere along the way.. enters one new Dog as anniversary present to my father from my mother… 6 month old Pomeranian puppy named Emerson… yup… called her an idiot!)

At any rate… my sister, sitting aound the house, able to do WAY more than she lets on and generally feeling sorry for herself was given a lecture about what “I” would do if “I” had all this time on my hands.  (I mean that is what big sisters are good for right?)  So it began…  “you know… I would love to have NOTHING to do all day except sit around, watch TV and be on the computer… if only I had SO much to do I would get myself a tan, catch up on reading, find something artsy to do…” oh the place my imagination went…..

At any rate… my sister… having done none of these things I would LOVE to have time to do.. susequently pissed me off.  So I decided.  I was going to read a magazine, on the back porch, in my bathing suit, in the sun, while my kids played in the pool.  So I did.

I read exactly 1/2 of all the articles in some random edition of Parent’s magazine and you know what.  I LIKED IT!  A LOT!  LOL  I could have sat down and delved into an installment of the latest Oprah book club recommendation but I would have gotten all of 10 pages into it, stained by chlorine water, and I am sure by that point I would have had to referee someone or make some meal or fulfill some other motherly duty but a magazine.  It’s a perfect fit!  How to tips to motivate, a little comedic escape about Potty Training by Jay Mahr and I solved my house cleaning conundrum all in the span of 45 minutes… wow.. now that is what I call a GOOD day!  I think I mght try it again tomorrow!Recent Comments:

• XXX says A tip to save some cash when enjoying movies it that instead of heading to the movies on a busy [more]
• daphne says I JUST LOVE YOU!!! You always amaze me. You’re wonder womman of another kind!! I know it’s hard to BE [more]
• Jen says We are currently going through a pregnancy possibly affected by VACTERL…having more tests run. Would like to discuss some [more]
• Jen says Hi Amber! It’s lunchablemommy – actually not on A full cup anymore, so I wanted to send you my [more]
• Tracy says Love it! That is something Maggie would do. She loves Disney Princess stuff too. LOL. [more]

• November 24, 2009 -- Be Still my heart… (er.. nose)
• August 26, 2010 -- Be Still…
• January 12, 2010 -- Coming Home!
• December 5, 2009 -- Believe….
• November 22, 2009 -- Making Peace…

We are getting ready to head into wedding season and I am so ready for the weddings but NOT ready for the busy”ness” of it all.  We have TWO out of town weddings and one out of the country wedding this year so its going to be action packed to say the least.  Top that off with our family vacation instead of Christmas this year and it will be a full 2010.  YES!!! I said vacation!  We are actually going to take one… me, Troy and the kids.  We are going to get on a plane and go to the most magical place on earth!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  We are going to visit our friends who live in the area and stay at an amazing hotel and take WAY too many pictures.  Thank you DELTA for the motivation (and free airfare!).  Last year coming back from Negril, we volunteered to get off a plane to allow two pilots to take our seats in order for them to get home.  We had to stay overnight in Atlanta but Delta compensated us well enough that we were able to fly our WHOLE family for vacation in December for $100 after our credits!    Our kids have NO idea so we are keeping a bit of a secret.  I get all teary eyed when I think about the fact that before the end of the year, I will watch my daughter lay eyes on Cinderella’s castle for the first time.  I will watch my son MEET Spongebob.  I will get to tell our oldest about how he got to see all these sights when he was too little to remember and watch as his eyes wander through the streets lined with millions of Christmas lights… yes we hear the Disney is beautiful at christmas.

We have looked at Disney tickets and wow are they expensive.  Our budget will likely only permit us one day at Disney but that will be enough.  The good part is that our kids are still young enough to be totally happy just living at the hotel!  We will be happy to just be us… on vacation… at a place we have wanted to go for many years now and never had the time, money or ability to.  There were times, in the past few years, that we all thought that we would never actually get to make this trip so in many ways it is the trip of a lifetime for us all.  Almost 5 years after we found out that our daughter might not live to see this day.  Almost two years after our family was nearly torn to shreds.  Almost a year after moving into our family house and selling our own… we will just be us.  A family, making memories and for 5 days… our life will be perfect.  I can’t wait!

Anyway…  I REALLY hope to get back to blogging soon but who knows… life may have more up its sleeve for us!  I am afraid to ask at this point!  LOLRecent Comments:

• XXX says A tip to save some cash when enjoying movies it that instead of heading to the movies on a busy [more]
• daphne says I JUST LOVE YOU!!! You always amaze me. You’re wonder womman of another kind!! I know it’s hard to BE [more]
• Jen says We are currently going through a pregnancy possibly affected by VACTERL…having more tests run. Would like to discuss some [more]
• Jen says Hi Amber! It’s lunchablemommy – actually not on A full cup anymore, so I wanted to send you my [more]
• Tracy says Love it! That is something Maggie would do. She loves Disney Princess stuff too. LOL. [more]

Random Posts

Tonight, my daughter crossed her legs, got the urge, ran to the potty, crawled up on it (a la sitting bull style – she of course learned from Ross) and PEED straight in that potty.  She then took off two squares of TP, wiped, flushed and walked away… all while I stood in shock… with tears.  Seriously?  Where did THAT come from?  This is the SAME child who dribbled urine down the hallway at the Hopemont house not more than 2 months ago?  The same child who we were considering a permanent catheter and completely cutting off any ability to leak urine from below this fall?  The same child with bad kidneys and an even worse bladder?

Yes… that very one!  At 8:02 pm on May 7, 2010, my daughter PEED in the potty all on her own!

David had Goliath.  Kyleigh had the Potty… both were conquered.  I can ASSURE you that this “Goliath” is no smaller than the man that stood before David.  With a small stone he slayed the giant.  With a small square of TP my daughter slayed hers!  GOD IS GOOD!~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Recent Comments:

• XXX says A tip to save some cash when enjoying movies it that instead of heading to the movies on a busy [more]
• daphne says I JUST LOVE YOU!!! You always amaze me. You’re wonder womman of another kind!! I know it’s hard to BE [more]
• Jen says We are currently going through a pregnancy possibly affected by VACTERL…having more tests run. Would like to discuss some [more]
• Jen says Hi Amber! It’s lunchablemommy – actually not on A full cup anymore, so I wanted to send you my [more]
• Tracy says Love it! That is something Maggie would do. She loves Disney Princess stuff too. LOL. [more]

• August 26, 2010 -- Be Still…
• June 30, 2010 -- Because Mermaids need water…
• June 29, 2010 -- Call me crazy… but we had a yard sale!
• February 23, 2010 -- So it begins, Kyleigh’s next medical journey.
• January 14, 2010 -- Ky’s new do…

Sometimes when I have a bad day and I end up in tears over one thing or another I will hear this playing through my head.  Almost like her voice still echos to me even though she has long since passed.  But she was SO right.  There are so many things in life that I think could be solved with a little less GRIPING and a little more praying!  True?

I recently started reading a new book called “I Told the Mountain to Move” by Patricia Raybon.  It’s all about praying effectively.  I believe this is a book that I purchased shortly after “that horrible time” a few years ago but I had not made the time to read it.  Now as I delve into the book it has really made me think.  We sit in church on Sunday and the pastor will “Lets all bow our heads and pray… Dearest Heavenly Father, etc etc etc…”  So formal and proper.  We all do it.  Hands folded, heads bowed.  We even teach our children this is how we pray.  But really the HEART of prayer doesn’t come from a church pew or from a bowed head.

I can remember the first time Troy had dinner with my family.  I was mad at my mother about something and of course, she asked ME to say the blessing over dinner.  I still think it was spiteful but nonetheless I did it.  Out came my “prayer”.  “God, mom wants me to say the blessing over this food, and here goes… bless the food… thanks”.  And that was it.  Troy has laughed at me for YEARS now over that.  He said it was like I was dialing up my best friend to have a chat on the phone.  But really, is that so far from the truth?  For me, even though that prayer WAS a bit half-hearted, I have MANY prayers today that are almost similar to that day.  They are CONVERSATIONS with God.  I tend to think of God as my Heavenly Father so most of my prayers start with me calling Him by that name.  I rarely find that I use flowery language.  Some of my best prayer times come from when I am driving so eyes shut are hardly an option. There will be a beautiful song come on the radio that will move me and inspire me to be thankful or convicted and I will let loose.  I sometimes find that my prayers are a little like a therapy session where I unload the days troubles.  But really, if you truly think about it… and that old camp meeting song… “He will hear our FAINTEST cry… answer by and by.”  I honestly believe that God loves to hear from us… straight from our hearts and if our hearts are burdened THAT is when we should CAST our cares on Him.  Have we forgotten that HE is bigger than all of our cares, troubles, struggles, burdens, hurts, happiness, joy, good days and bad days?  I have not forgotten that.

I also think that some of the most effective prayers I have ever prayed have come from a desperate time.  Desperate times call for desperate measures I guess.  Back when the “What Would Jesus Do?” bracelets were popular there was another acronym.  P.U.S.H.  Oh boy!  Is that the acronym for me?!!!  If I am good at anything in life it is PUSHING until I get something done!!!  P.U.S.H. stands for “Pray Until Something Happens”  How true how true.  Maybe that is why some of the most effective prayers come from desperation!  Finally, at that point, you are able to PRAY without ceasing. (1 Thessalonians 5:17)  Pray always.  Pray on your face with tears of sincerity.  You pray and you cry out and boom… a miracle.  And so many are shocked.  Elated but shocked.  But WHY?  Should we not pray EXPECTING that miracle to happen?  What happened to faith as a grain of a mustard seed? (Matthew 17:20)  If there is one thing I can say about myself is that even when doubt creeps ins… I still EXPECT that my Heavenly Father will rescue me from ANY situation.  I BELIEVE strongly that anything that happens is NOT outside his plan and that ALL THINGS work for the GOOD of those who serve Him.

I think that the KEY to having prayer that WORKS.  Prayer that MOVES mountains… is CLAIMING those promises.  You must TAKE that Bible that lies on your bedside table and USE it.  It is a TOOL to lead and guide us through life.  Anytime you have a decision to make… get in the word.  Anytime you are at a crossroads… get in the word.  Anytime you hurt… get in the word.  There is an answer for EVERYTHING in your life… in the word!  There is also instruction on HOW TO PRAY… in the word.  Prayer is mentioned 511 in the King James Bible… Did you know that God has given us 511 instructions on how to pray yet many of us flounder through our daily prayers with nothing more than “Dear God…”

I truly believe that prayer should be a conversation with God.  Sometimes, just like a parent, I think that God needs a little reminding.  I take every opportunity to remind Him that HE has promised us GREAT things.  That HE has moved mountains.  That HE has parted the sea and that I EXPECT Him to do the same for me and He has done for Moses, Jacob, Joseph, Daniel, David, and many more who have come before me.  Throughout the day, when things go wrong instead of complaining (which I do enough of!  I will admit it… I am not scared!) I try to look at the situation and CLAIM the promise.

Take for example this past week.  We had some major upset with Kyleigh’s medical bills…. Bills from 4 years ago to boot.  I dug in my heels and said to God (as I was on hold with the 5th person) “I do not accept this debt!  You gave my daughter life MORE ABUNDANTLY.  You have HEALED, RESCUED and RESTORED her body and now I expect that the work which you have started in our finances will also be the same.  I BELIEVE that You are able!”  Not more than 1 hour later… I received a call from KMSF saying that they were writing off all of the bills due to “incorrect” filing.  Is it true that they were trying to Balance Bill me? Yes.  Was I NOT responsible for that in any way because of Kyleigh’s three insurances?  YES.  BUT….  that could have turned into a bigger struggle than just a few hours worth of phone calls.  It could have gone to a lawyer, to court, to many more levels.  BUT… it didn’t.  It was FINISHED.

So…I challenge you today… when something comes your way that is not positive that you would look that opposition STRAIGHT in the FACE and CLAIM the promise that your Heavenly Father has given you to protect and keep you!!!  Start practicing this and see how quickly all of your cares melt away!!!Recent Comments:

• XXX says A tip to save some cash when enjoying movies it that instead of heading to the movies on a busy [more]
• daphne says I JUST LOVE YOU!!! You always amaze me. You’re wonder womman of another kind!! I know it’s hard to BE [more]
• Jen says We are currently going through a pregnancy possibly affected by VACTERL…having more tests run. Would like to discuss some [more]
• Jen says Hi Amber! It’s lunchablemommy – actually not on A full cup anymore, so I wanted to send you my [more]
• Tracy says Love it! That is something Maggie would do. She loves Disney Princess stuff too. LOL. [more]

• November 12, 2009 -- For God has NOT given us a spirit of fear…
• August 19, 2009 -- Wordless Wednesday
• March 5, 2010 -- Priorities.
• January 14, 2010 -- New Year, new prayers…
• December 16, 2009 -- What faith has done.

THEN today on Michelle’s blog: Money Saving Madness, she posted a link to a Scentsy FREE Sample kit!!!

GO NOW and get yours!  I did!!!Recent Comments:

• XXX says A tip to save some cash when enjoying movies it that instead of heading to the movies on a busy [more]
• daphne says I JUST LOVE YOU!!! You always amaze me. You’re wonder womman of another kind!! I know it’s hard to BE [more]
• Jen says We are currently going through a pregnancy possibly affected by VACTERL…having more tests run. Would like to discuss some [more]
• Jen says Hi Amber! It’s lunchablemommy – actually not on A full cup anymore, so I wanted to send you my [more]
• Tracy says Love it! That is something Maggie would do. She loves Disney Princess stuff too. LOL. [more]

• January 5, 2010 -- New Year’s Resolution: ADD Magazines to your list of things NOT to pay for in the new year!
• November 9, 2009 -- HOT DEAL- FREE photo Christmas cards!!!
• November 1, 2009 -- What does 20 cents look like to you??
• August 30, 2009 -- Walgreens Deals 8/30 – 9/5
• August 23, 2009 -- On On U of K.. with FREE Chick-Fil-A

One thing that I had to stop and think about as I was watching the tow truck pull away was how life seems to come in waves.  Some are waves that you can ride into the surf, others are tsunamis that catch you by surprise and even once you REALIZE they have hit they keep coming and coming.  And how I am INCREDIBLY grateful that the truck made it THROUGH the move as it was our primary source of moving our entire family’s stuff!!!!  It must have made 50 trips to and from houses and I do THANK it very much for its service, all these years, to our family!  You will be missed my friend!!!

These waves come crashing in and you might even see them coming and yet you are still powerless to stop them.  You can put your hand out in front of you or run for cover but it will do you no good.  The wave will still come.  What choice do you have?  So you wait and you ready yourself and it hits and it is as bad as you anticipated.  You watch the water recede and take with it many remains of things from the past.  It washes those things back out to sea and you will never see them again.  They might become drift wood or a coral house but the point is that even if you DO see these “things” again you may never even recognize them.  Then, you turn around, and there is the destruction.

Maybe it was because I didn’t have TIME to be upset by this today or maybe it was because I really am beginning to grow into a more patient person, but at any rate… I thought to myself … “There must be something better on the horizon”.  As I sat down to write this post I was reassured by one of my favorite songs… “Even when the rain falls, Even when the flood starts rising.  I am WASHED by the water………… Even when the earth crumbles under my feet.  Even when the ones I love, turn around and crucify me…. I won’t fall as long as You’re around me!”.  How true, how true.

Recent Comments:

• XXX says A tip to save some cash when enjoying movies it that instead of heading to the movies on a busy [more]
• daphne says I JUST LOVE YOU!!! You always amaze me. You’re wonder womman of another kind!! I know it’s hard to BE [more]
• Jen says We are currently going through a pregnancy possibly affected by VACTERL…having more tests run. Would like to discuss some [more]
• Jen says Hi Amber! It’s lunchablemommy – actually not on A full cup anymore, so I wanted to send you my [more]
• Tracy says Love it! That is something Maggie would do. She loves Disney Princess stuff too. LOL. [more]

Random Posts

So I have had to reformat my methods of shopping a bit for a few different reasons.

1) we moved and the Meijer that is closest to us (HAMBURG for all you lexingtonians….) is INFESTED with these little flying bug like creatures that hatch from dried goods and get in your whole house.  Its been a problem with that Meijer for as long as I can remember and I refuse to buy ANY dried goods there … that means NO pasta, cereal, hamburger helpers, snack foods.  I will still go for frozen goods and cans but I am not even happy about bringing a Coke pack in the house as these little creatures seem to inhabit anything cardboard!  SOOOOO… I find myself driving to the other side of town.  UGH.  But I invest too much time, money and energy into this stockpile to have it eaten down by WEEVILS!!!!

2) Now that we have full time help with the kids its easier to run out each night to a single store rather than me shopping alone for 4 hours on Saturday or Sunday!  I love that!  I am trying to get into a routine!

3)  Let us just rejoice in the fact that they are building a BRAND NEW CVS at the end of my street!  All the same sweet people are going to work there as the one I go to now but its going to be a HUGE freestanding building with TONS more stock!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I am doing a happy dance!  NEW CVS HERE I COME!

4) We have eaten a great deal of our stockpile and are at critical low on many items.  (meaning less than 5 of each!  That will last less than 2 weeks in our house.)  We shoot for a 6 mo stock of many things because I know the sale cycles don’t come around often… so having that few of an item makes me a little nervous.  I just cannot bring myself to go out and pay $5 for Miracle Whip when I know it will be free or next to free within the next two months!!!!!  See my quandary?

So… today I ventured out across town.  I had to hit Meijer and Boston Road Kroger (the only place in Lex that I have found that has the GOOD paper – Courier Journal in addition to the Herald- so that I can get my good coupons!  At Meijer I scored big on Tuna and the Betty Crocker Deal and at Kroger I hit up the nearly free Country Crock butter, cheap eggs etc.  I still have to do a little more research on a potential Betty Crocker potatoes and Pillsbury canned biscuit deal for this evening because the Catalina promo is over today…

I got the following at Meijer:

9 cans of BC frosting @ $1.29 each = $11.61
9 boxes of cake mix @ $0.99 each= $8.91

TOTAL: $20.52
- (1) Catalina $8 back (when buying $20 or more)
-(2) $0.50 WYB 1 frosting and 1 cake mix (doubled) = -$2 (IP- coupons.com)
-(7) $0.75 WYB 1 and 1 = -$5.25 (3/14 SS2 … I think… or 3/18)
= $4.75 TOTAL or $0.26 each!!!

**granted I have gotten frosting FREE before but my stock was low and $0.26 each is pretty darn good!**

28 cans of Starkist tuna @ 2/$1 ($0.50 each) = $14
- (7) $1/4 Coupon = $7 / 28 cans tuna or $0.25 each!!!!

Ballpark Hot Dogs (Bun Length included) 3/$5= $1.67 each
2 @ $1.67 each = $3.34
-(1) $0.75/2 Ballpark Hotdogs Q = $2.59/2 or $1.30 each

Kraft Parmesan Cheese $2.99 ( needed this to use up my $8 catalina from the BC….)

TOTAL OOP: $16.04

Then I was off to Kroger to retrieve my Courier Journal Coupons and picked up:

(4) Country Crock Butter Spread tubs @ $1 each =$4

-(4) $0.40 /1 IP (doubled to $0.80 each) = -$3.20= $0.80 TOTAL or $0.20 each

(2) Dozen Eggs @ $0.79 each= $1.58 + Coupon for FREE Big Red 2 liter WYB 2 eggs- $1.29 value FREE

TOTAL OOP: $1.78 + papers

Shopping Day total: $17.82.  Not bad for under $20 huh???Recent Comments:

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• October 31, 2009 -- Carving and Couponing…
• April 11, 2010 -- Coupons… gotta make it back!
• January 13, 2010 -- Hot new printable coupons!
• January 3, 2010 -- January 3, 2010- RUN NOW and buy your coupons!
• December 29, 2009 -- Over the hills we go, stockpiling all the way!