Finding harmony in family, finance & military life

It is breast cancer awareness month. We are commanded to love not only others but ourselves and part of loving ourselves is to take care of our bodies. Schedule your mammograms, do self breast exams, eat well, think positive, laugh a lot, and pray often. If you are called to give this month please research before doing so, this will ensure your money is going where it is most needed.

My brain is killing me but I could not leave all of my faithful readers hanging so here is a quick update: I PASSED!!!!!! WOOHOO!!!!!!! I AM GOING TO COLLEGE!!!!! FOR FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I passed my placement test. I stomped reading and writing, then did well (not my best, but well) in computer and pre-Algebra. Algebra I did not do so well in and will be taking a review class in that this semester. Honestly I was expecting that I was screaming at my computer and banging my head on the desk while studying. Algebra is not my friend! Enough about that stinky subject though the important thing is I passed, I am going to college!! I applied for a bunch of grants after I filled out my FAFSA and got my award letter today too. I will not have to pay anything praise the Lord! I feel so blessed, I just can not believe it! Ok I am gonna go now I feel like mush that test is killer. Thank you all so much for praying and believing!

I wanted to post a link to the new commissary coupon policy. No more stacking of any kind will be accepted even on coupons that do not exclude the stacking of coupons which I have never had a problem using in the past. I am not happy but I don't make the rules I just have to follow them. Here is the link.  Will I still shop at the commissary? Yes, I earned the right to shop there you better believe I am gonna use it! They will still have great sales that I can take advantage of without stacking coupons. Will I start watching sale prices at other stores a little closer to get a better deal then DeCa? You better believe it!  I have watched prices rise and fall at the commissary enough to question the "law" they claim keeps them from charging above cost and does not allow them to make a profit. Why else would they charge up to 10 cent more per pound for bananas then other stores in the area? Grab your note books ladies and start tracking prices if you find a bette...

My application to be a student at Wayne Community College has been received along with my instate tuition application.  Military and their dependents living in the state of North Carolina can apply for in state tuition rates which is a huge money saver. My GED transcripts have still not been received. There is still no word on where my VA paper work went, but that is part of the joy of being a veteran. Multiple applications for scholarships have been filled out, essays written. I have scheduled my placement test and official class registration for August 9th at 1:30pm. Please pray for me especially on that day, during that time and all the days leading up to it. I have not stepped foot in a class room setting since Tech School twelve years ago prior to that I was home schooled. Tech school was a whole new world and I thrived in the class room, now college is a whole new world and the unknown scares me just like it did in the days leading up to Basic Training and Tech School. At...

I love waking up early, I really do. The shower is always hot, the house is always quiet, I can be perfectly content in my own little world at 5:15 am. Often my early morning routine has me heading out of the house for the gym then heading home to work out some more. I do my best to cram in my Bible reading and prayer time in the minutes between Brent leaving for work and the kids waking up in a wave of "mommy I am hungry"s and "mom there is no more toilet paper" oh and my favorite "mom I have nothing to wear!". On days the wave hits before I find time to just be with the Lord I make a mental note to find that moment later in the day, often I forget completely. I have been working hard to let that happen less. I want that moment! I crave that moment! Ok in all honesty I need that moment! I have noticed over the years the days with that moment have a much easier current almost like that "moment" is my blow up raft that gets me through th...

Exciting news on the front!! I am in the process of enrolling in college!! Woohoo!!! I bet you all thought you were reading a blog written by an educated woman but that is not the case. Let me rephrase that I am educated of my own accord I research, I get info, I retain it and share it so in that sense I am educated. I have just never pursued a college degree and I am so excited. Now I had no idea the application process involved with enrolling in higher education. I have applied to get into the college, applied for GED transcripts, applied for GI Bill benefits and applied for FAFSA because I will only get 50% of the GI benefits I applied for. Long story on the GI Bill thing but that is for another day.  I have applied my butt off and it isn't done yet. Currently I am applying for scholarships and grants pretty much anything that will help cover costs beyond what I should have covered using the Post 9/11 GI Bill. At first it seemed everything out there was closed out for the ye...

I had a little fun with my Food Lion ad and created a meal plan with shopping list using mostly items that are currently on sale for less then $1 per pound. A few things are not that low, a few are not even in the ad and I even had to guess on a few but I think it is pretty close. Remember I was just having some fun (trying to ignore the dirty dishes) so it may not be 100% realistic but I bet it will inspire you. I made this as if I were feeding my own family on our normal school schedule so if you want to use it you will have to adjust it to your family. Food Lion for one week Breakfast 1 Toast, Eggs, Orange Juice $3.38 2 Orange & Apple Slices $1.96 3 Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls $2 4 Eggs & 1lbHash browned potatoes, Orange Juice $2.99 5 Toast & Cinnamon Apples $1.96 6 Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls $2 7 Oranges & Hash brown potatoes $1.59 Total $15.88 Lunch 1 Chef Boyardee & steamed fresh broccoli $2 2 Baked Potatoes topped with steamed b...

We have a lot of stuff already on hand so I am taking a break from E-meals this month and wrote up my own menu using what we have in the pantry and freezer. Enjoy! APRIL Menu Plan 1.        Hot Dog Night 2.        Rice, Salad, String beans 3.        Oven Roasted potatoes, carrots with hummus or ranch dip , couscous 4.        Rice, salad, broccoli 5.        Whole wheat pasta, sauce, salad 6.        Corn, Mashed potatoes, salad 7.        Rice, Asparagus, broccoli 8.        Turkey, string beans, mash potatoes, cranberry sauce Thanksgiving for Easter 9.        Turkey rice soup, rolls, salad 10.    Date Night! Pick up Little Caesar’s Pizza x4 11.    Spaghetti, Sauce, salad 12.    Ho...

"God wants to be a part of the life He has called us too." Taken from Kisses from Katie One sentence that has been speaking volumes to me over the past couple of days. Sometimes I focus to much on the reason or the season and forget to focus on the One who put me there in the first place. I was not left to do it all on my own I am supposed to put my trust, my faith in God to completely rely on Him. There are days where I am just running around in the dark saying God where are You? Why aren't You helping me? I feel lost! Lost in do it myself mode, lost in if I don't no one will, lost in the best one for the job is me, oh just plain lost! No patience, no break, no moment of silence and thanks. I just barrel through the day thinking whats next, come on bring it. Why did I forget to turn on the light? Why don't I see He is right there, has been all along just waiting for me to invite Him in. Opening the door to let the smoke, the steam, the stench out of my lif...

Heard an interesting take on being the stay at home mom, homemaker, house wife whatever you prefer. Along with being the domestic diva, home economist, and the long list of side jobs that goes with being a wife and mother your role in life should also include being the anti-drama for your husband. Yes that is right the ANTI-DRAMA! I hadn't really thought about it. Ok yes I have but not in that respect, I had not thought about how I could be the anti-drama to my husbands day. It actually goes hand in hand with the post I wrote here.  If he your husband works outside the home or inside the home he is already dealing with a great deal of drama. He gets to hear about the goings on in the life of his co-workers, he gets it from his boss, from the people he talks to on the phone. Your working spouse deals with drama all day every day at work. When he comes home your job is to be the anti-drama. That peaceful calm that he looks forward to coming home to each day. Now sure your life w...

Read Haggai chapter 1 today and two warnings followed by a promise jumped off the page. Haggai 1:5 The Lord Almighty says "Give careful thought to your ways" Haggai 1:7 The Lord Almighty says " Give careful thought to your ways" Following the first warning was a list of what they had done for themselves that yielded little or no results. Following the second a list of what they should do to bring Honor to the house of the Lord. He, God our maker the creator of Heaven and Earth, is calling us to think! Think about what we are doing each day, every minute of every day. Do our actions honor Him? Do our words honor Him? Is He reflected in the lives we live? Are we living only to bring honor and glory to ourselves while our soul, our spiritual selves, the temple in which God the Holy Spirit resides lay in ruins? Then came the promise. Haggai 1:13 "I am with you" Declares the Lord! That declaration brings warm fuzzies to your soul. He is with you,...

Yes we made it!  21 days in prayers, 21 days of reading the Bible, 21 days of fasting (for the most part)! It was not easy no not at all. It was nothing like I thought it would be. It was an experience that I do want to try again sooner rather then later! Reading the Bible and praying as a family on a daily basis is still happening. We did miss one day and honestly I felt it, like a missed conversation with your best friend. Today we only got in a couple minutes of Bible reading and prayer but the point is we did it. Maybe even more so the point is the kids asked for it. I liked that! I like that  they are in this with us holding us adults accountable. I too had started to carve out time to pray and read by myself each day during the committed 21 days. On the days I don't get to I feel like I am barely getting through the day. I hate myself and everyone else within hours of waking up and it pretty much sets my day up for complete destruction. So I need that time....

Brent and I reflected for a minute last night on our path and purpose. We can look back on the past ten years and see clearly the path we went down blindly then. Every step along the way made us stronger and more capable. We could not do the job God has laid out for us today without first having gone down that path. We made huge mistakes! Now those mistakes are the lessons learned we can share with others to keep them from walking down that same path and paying the price we had to pay. We treasure each couple we have sat down and talked to about money. It is not just money, it is life. All laid out it is a map of the past. Every debt, every bill, every want and every need tells the story of that family. We can look in their eyes and tell if they are truly ready to make the sacrifices and the changes to make the rest of their life better. Not easy and smooth sailing but better. They want to be ready for the storm when it hits, they want to be able to breath when the sun is shining. ...

Wow three days, three very busy days full of karate, church, housework and life in general. I woke up on Thursday with a kink in my back and neck that is just starting to loosen up and have been battling a migraine that left my world in a haze. We have pressed on though with our daily dose of family time filled with Bible reading and prayer. Killing giants, slaughter for a wife and unclean hands! Haha sounds like some warped thriller. Nope. We have been reading 1 Samuel 17 & 18 and Mark 7. We are really enjoying getting to know the not quite yet King David. He had no fear and complete faith that God would deliver Goliath into his hands. God had already proven His immense strength and capability in David's life. David had killed lions and bears with his bare hands! No man can do that without the strength of God. What other men ran away from David ran head on into. He was not going to let a giant live after hearing him mock God. He set the standard for how God's army should...