Fall

I am so thrilled about fall finally showing it's face! As I sit here, I am able to look out my window and see a tree that has decided to show me its true colors, or at least its most beautiful colors. I have had my windows open for about a week now and absolutely love having the fresh air fill our apartment, not to mention the added benefit of saving on our air conditioning bill! The past two falls have been extremely busy times for me. Two years ago I was focused on graduating from college and last year I was extremely busy with wedding planning! Although those experiences were wonderful, they took a lot of my focus. It has been great being able to sit back and completely take in fall this year.

Bryon and I went camping a few weeks ago and have another camping trip planned at the end of the month. I can't seem to get enough of being outside and fully appreciating the gorgeous weather. We registered at REI for our wedding and were excited to finally put some of the camping items we received to good use. Bryon and I both love cool weather and pretty much abhor Georgia heat so we are feeling much more refreshed now! There is something about sleeping in the middle of the woods that causes me to step back and really appreciate all the blessings in my life. I can get so caught up in the day to day activities that I forget to just stop and be grateful. Sitting next to a campfire and sipping on hot chocolate next to my husband made me stop and appreciate how faithful the Lord is to me. One of my favorite songs is "He's Always Been Faithful" by Sara Groves. It is such a positive reminder to me that

"all I have need of His hand will provide". I may think that I need many things (such as a pumpkin candle or a new book?) but I am reminded that my greatest needs can only (and will) be met by Christ. Fall, I joyfully welcome you and everything you have to show me!

Future Plans

One of the exciting aspects of this year has been the knowledge that Bryon and I have a wide open future, full of endless possibilities. We have thrown around so many different ideas/desires regarding what our next steps should look like. Over the past few months, the Lord has placed on our hearts a desire to serve Him by serving people who need to hear how much they are valued and loved. We have been praying for wisdom to know where we should go (or even if we should stay where we are) and what we should do.

One of the passions that the Lord has placed on our hearts for a while has been a community in the West Virginia mountains. Bryon served in this community a few years ago for a summer and had the opportunity to build relationships with some of the boys in the area. The ministry that Bryon teamed up with is a ministry that uses the opportunity of repairing peoples homes to build relationships with the homeowners. This particular area in West Virginia is considered the "third world" of the United States because of the great poverty and high unemployment. The people need to know that they are loved and can have hope in a relationship with Christ despite the negative circumstances surrounding them.

We have been praying about the possibility of moving up to West Virginia to become involved in this ministry. Will you please pray with us and this ministry as we seek the Lord regarding this decision? We are currently praying (along with the team already serving in W.V) that the Lord will make it clear what His desire is for our future. We would love to know that we are being supported in prayer from our friends and family as well.

Saving Money

I am on a journey. This journey involves hours of research and many changes. I am striving hard to become wiser with money and in the process, I am getting caught up in the excitement of the task before me. This process began a couple weeks ago when Bryon was informed that his company was preparing for many layoffs. We knew there was a large chance that Bryon would be laid off because he was the most recent hire. We are very grateful that he was able to keep his job, but also feel like we can be better stewards of the money that we are given now, in case a time does arrive that we need to rely on savings.

My journey began with a stop at couponmom.com. I had heard a lot about this site and was excited to check it out. I have to say, it was fun to realize how much money I could be saving by strategically using coupons. The difficulty with this method of saving was that I would often have to shop at a few different stores in order to receive the best savings. I also had to spend a lot of time cutting out coupons and and comparing the prices of the coupon items to the prices of the generic store brand of the same item. At the end of my shopping trip, many of the coupons I spent time cutting out weren't even used because the generic was cheaper! I did end up saving some money from the tips I used at this site, but it didn't feel like it was worth all the time it took to research and shop.

The next great find was the Aldi grocery store. Bryon was actually the one to challenge me to check it out. We took our publix receipt (the one where everything on it was bought with a coupon and/or special savings, thanks to couponmom.com) and simply compared all the items on the prices to the same items at Aldi. We were so impressed! Every item on the list was cheaper at Aldi then at Publix. I have been able to cut back a lot on my grocery bill now that I'm shopping at Aldi. (do I sound like an advertisement or what?) The only negative aspect of Aldi is their produce. I haven't been very impressed with the fruits and veggies that I've bought there. They seem to get old much faster. My solution is to buy everything except fruits and veggies at Aldi and then run by Publix to buy the fresh produce. It's working out well so far! (Note: Aldi doesn't take coupons which is frustrating since I've spent so much time learning how to utilize my coupons better!)

Now I've come to the latest stop on this journey. E-mealz.com is our newest experiment to help us save money (and time!). E-mealz is a site that creates a shopping list and meal plan based on your personal preferences. You can select whether you're a family or a couple, if you want to shop at Aldi, Publix, Kroger or Walmart and if you want low fat or regular options. The site then creates a menu and a grocery list based off of your choices and tells you how much money you'll spend on your groceries. The verdict is still out about this since it's my first week trying it, but I'll let you know how it works!

In addition to the grocery savings, I've been introduced to the world of thrift stores (thank you Heather!) and prescription freebies from my doctor. It has been exciting to learn new ways to save and I'm looking forward to discovering newer and better ways in the future!

First Post Ever!

I'm feeling a lot of pressure for this post to be extra special because it is after all... *drum roll please*... my FIRST blog ever! I have found myself getting caught up in choosing my background template, changing my text color over and over again and exploring the wide variety of widgets available for blogs. Who knew that in order to design a blog page, you have to make more then one text color decision.

I can relate to Tom Hanks character in "You've Got Mail" when he said "The whole purpose of places like Starbucks is for people with no decision-making ability whatsoever to make six decisions just to buy one cup of coffee. Short, tall, light, dark, caf, decaf, low-fat, non-fat, etc. So people who don't know what the hell they're doing or who on earth they are can, for only $2.95, get not just a cup of coffee but an absolutely defining sense of self: Tall. Decaf. Cappuccino.". Instead of coffee choices, I have to decide whether my link color should be green, brown, black, bold, or italicized. After that I have to decide the same thing about the title font, post font, description font and more. And that's just the text! Whew, blogging is exhausting (and fun!). I suppose I could have simply chosen a generic template and started writing down my thoughts right away, but what's the fun in that?

I am sitting at Chick-fil-a drinking my coffee and attempting to stay warm while I watch my husband hard at work. Bryon has been giving up a few of his evenings this week to help fill in some shifts here. We are thankful for the opportunity to have some additional income, but have missed each other a lot this week. Bryon is such a hard worker. I am so thankful that I never have to fear that he will provide for me to the best of his ability. He has been working full time at his regular job and then coming straight here to close. He doesn't get home until after 11 and then wakes up the next morning to do it all again. I am continually overwhelmed with how blessed I am to have such a hard working husband.

I have been praying a lot about how the Lord wants to use me. I can't seem to shake the feeling that I am not doing what I was created to do. It is easy to get discouraged and feel like I need to be a better person and stronger in my relationship with the Lord before I can be used by Him. I know though that He is simply waiting for me to be willing. He has given Bryon and I a passion for children/youth that desperately need to be loved. I have a desire to be a comfort and encouragement to youth who don't have someone in their lives to tell them they are loved and valued. Please be praying for us as we seek the Lord regarding what the future holds for us.