Finding harmony in family, finance & military life

I just ordered the iTovi which I am told is much like the Zyto Compass but far more convenient and easy to use. I absolutely love the Zyto Compass and have been saving up to buy one in the near future which is why I am super excited about the iTovi . While I am not able to post a review on it just yet I did not want you to miss out on the incredible deal they are offering right now. Here is the deal Pay $39.99 a month for 12 months and you own it outright, have lifetime access, no subscription fees ever! (only until December 31st, 2015) OR Pay $399.99 and have lifetime access at no extra cost, no subscription fees ever. ( Only until December 31st, 2015) Have 5 people join under you and you receive the device for free and receive lifetime access at no extra cost. If you have already paid for the iTovi or you are on the 12 month payment option they will refund you the amount you have paid. "Return Policy" If you aren't happy for any reason, you may contact them wi...

Welcome to Harmony in the Thunderstorm For the month of December with each new enrollment I am giving away a free bottle of Cedarwood, Spearmint or TummyGize while supplies last! Take advantage of this months promotions offered by Young Living! Every month they offer so amazing incentives that help you experience the wide range of products they offer and this month is one of the best offers yet. I am also offering incentives to my down line as a thank you for being so great!! Click on each picture to enlarge it and Merry Christmas!!

Just in case you haven't heard I am now a distributor with Young Living!! I am very excited about, not only building a business with this amazing company, but also sharing how my family uses all of these oils to stay happy and healthy year round. You will not believe the results we have had using Young Living essential oils for the every day ups and downs that I am planning to share with you. Please take a moment to go like and share my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/HarmonyintheThunderstorm/ I will be posting all sorts of great information on that page, you will not want to miss it! The most exciting news for right now is that once my page hits 1000 likes I will be hosting a give away on this blog! It has been awhile since I held a give away and the last one was a lot of fun so get to liking and sharing while I think about what great oil to give away! God Bless

Are you interested in Essential Oils? Have you been using Essential Oils for a long time and you’re ready to become a Member and start saving money while earning free oils? Do you just have a few questions and need more information before you make up your mind? Then I am the girl for you!! Feel free to PM me at harmony.in.the.thunderstorm@gmail.com at any time with questions about the oils or Young Living, I am here to help. If you have already made up your mind and just need a place to join please click the link below to get started https://www.youngliving.com/vo/#/signup/start It will ask if you were referred by anyone click that you were and enter my Member number 3058827 as both your sponsor and enroller. Choose if you want to just be a Retail Customer or if you want to become a Member. If you chose to be a Retail Customer you will miss out on the 24% savings offered to Members only so I would recommend becoming a Member. If you want to become a Member you will hav...

This past Wednesday we had a wonderful fiesta! Once again I prepared for a larger crowd then what we were blessed with but that is ok. Our goal was simple we catered for about 100 and served roughly 60. So how do you prepare a fiesta? Slow cook 5-7 pounds of chicken tenderloin with some chicken broth and Mexican seasoning in a roaster set at 250* for about 7 hours. It will shred up very easily and taste delicious. Put 5 cans of rinsed black beans with a bit of chicken broth and cumin spice in your slow cooker set on low heat to cook while the chicken cooks. Set 10 cups of jasmine rice to soak in your rice cooker. Do not turn it on until about an hour before you plan to serve the meal. You will end up with amazing sticky rice! When I do this again I will double the rice it was a huge hit. Slice up about 5 pounds of good quality steak and let it marinade in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. I just bought a marinade mix. In the hour before serving the meal I cooked up the steak...

This is a shout out to all the mamas and the papas, the sisters and the brothers, the lovers and the churches who post prayer requests online too! Denial is not a river in Egypt so you cannot go through life thinking oh it will never happen to me, what you post online is seen by everyone! While the American military would appreciate your scaling back on the posts our enemies thank you for every little blurb you make concerning where your military heart throb might be. You've heard the song " every breath you take, every move you make, I'll be watching you" yea the romantically creepy stalker song is being lived out on your facebook page.  Let's say your husband gets orders to --- and you immediately post on facebook a picture of --- with "My <3 is in ---" over top of it. The chatter begins, pretty soon people all over the world know that someone you love is heading to --- very soon. Look I don't care where the hell you think your heart is, do ...

I get asked that a lot, people always want to know just how I do something. Most of the time I don't really know how I did it I just did. How did you teach your two year old to read? I bet you read to him a lot! He was my fourth child. My husband was gone the first 18 months of his life give or take a few visits. I broke my leg when he was eleven months old, yes while my husband was in another country in true military wife fashion. In a nutshell my hands were full, my heart was heavy, unless you count those Harry Potter books I had my nose in every night after the kids were in bed, reading to my baby was not a top priority. Sorry! I knew what people wanted to hear when they marveled at my son reading a book from his stroller but, the truth was he spent a lot of time watching Signing Time and Super Why. Those two shows taught him everything he needed to know in order to pick up a book and start reading it. I applauded the mamas and the papas behind those two shows and gave t...

I have still not gotten used to technically being a "working mom", I still think of myself as a stay at home/home school mom, but it is true I have succumbed to the call of the working world. My official work title is Protestant Hospitality Coordinator. "What does that mean?" you may ask, well I will tell you! I have no idea what that title would mean in your average Protestant Church, I don't go to one bwahahaha, however for the Protestant Chapel on an Air Force base that title pretty much means I am a chef. I love my job! It is tough, too tough and I would not recommend it for just anyone, but for me it is perfect. I am contracted to work 13 hours every week and paid on salary so the extra 2-7 hours I work each week are considered volunteer hours... a new contract will be worked out no worries. Regardless of the crazy hours I still love my job. Onto the spaghetti! Every Wednesday night the Chapel hosts a free dinner for anyone on base who would like to come,...

To the mom who thinks she is doing it wrong, Trust me, you are! It does not matter if you are a first time mom, a mother of three, the mom going for number five, the quiver full mother of ten or perhaps fifteen with three sets of twins, you are doing it all wrong! Who only has one child? That's selfish! Why on earth did you have more then two? God only gave you two hands! Five is too many, ten you must be crazy and fifteen means your uterus must be the equivalent of a clown car. See, each one is clearly wrong. The mother who vaccinated her herd just pumped poison into their bodies, she is doing it wrong. The anti vac mom just put the entire preschool at risk, she is doing it wrong. The selective and delayed vaccinators, well it serves them right if they get the flu, they are doing it wrong. It doesn't matter how much research you do, the choices you make about vaccinations will be wrong. Each new case of measles, flu, Ebola, and autism spectrum disorder will someho...

The 18 year old me had a lot of big dreams, really big dreams. She had this plan all worked out in her head that she was going to join the Navy as a cook and some day rule the world. This naive young woman boarded a bus heading for Peach Tree City, Georgia from Baltimore, Maryland and by the Grace of God after sitting next to a real creep was rescued by an upstanding young man who had just been discharged from the Navy. She told him of her lofty dream, the one about being a Navy cook not the one about ruling the world, and he told her the facts about being in the Navy. The short story was that it sucked being a woman in the Navy and he encouraged her to look into the Air Force instead. Fast forward a few months and that is just what the 18 year old me did. However being a cook in the Air Force instead of in the Navy was not how my adventure went. I was home schooled which meant I enlisted Open General and was given whatever job the Air Force saw fit. I was too smart to go into Securi...

This morning I heard something that made me want to reach into the car radio and slap the girl talking through the speaker. The hot topic being discused had to do with the individuals of Seal Team Six speaking out about their mission. I tuned in somewhere in the middle but from what I gathered at that moment they were talking about the hardships endured by maybe Navy Seals or just deployed military in general. The young woman chimed in that "these guys" don't really have it as bad as we think and that many of them are deployed with roll out posture pedic beds. She suggested that since they are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in training they get hooked up out in the field and the military wouldn't just let them go on the way side ( be neglected). I may have snorted at that point. I later found out she is a military spouse, that really shocked me. I know everyone's deployment experience is different so maybe her husband is deployed with a nice bed to sleep...

Happy Veterans Day to all who serve and all who served before them! Everybody knows my husband serves, but few know that I too once served this great country as a Med Tech in the US Air Force. It was a short stint as motherhood proved to be a more appropriate calling for my life. Regardless of how many years I was in, it was certainly a life changing choice and I am very glad I did it. I am very thankful that my husband is actually home this Veterans Day! Usually he is gone or working, this year though he is recovering from a pretty intense ankle surgery. Not the greatest reason to be home but I will take whatever I can get. Most years in the past I have bundled the kids into the car and found all the local restaurants giving a free meal to veterans. This year we bundled up the kids to drive into town during the first real snow fall of the year for Brent's first follow up appointment after his surgery. The surgery went well but there was far more damage then originally thought ...

Hi! It's been awhile, a long while actually, over a full year has passed since I had the chance to catch my breath and write a blog. Let's see, I tapered off writing when I started my college journey... It was great! Honestly, I really enjoyed the challenge that going to college full time presented me with. No, I did not graduate and at the moment I have no plans to do so. I started college and then I started homeschooling and then we got orders. While I was enjoying the challenge I really struggled finding the balance between my school work and my kids. When we got orders to move I really had to double up on my college work to finish all of my classes by the end of February instead of the traditional mid to end of May. I did it, I did it well I held a 4.0 with no problem but I was burnt out and felt like I was failing at my biggest challenge being the MOM. I know plenty of moms who can do it all and they do it great I just couldn't. So while college was great and great f...

 I know it has been a long time since you all have heard from me, well no fear all is well in my world and I hope all is well in yours! I admit it has been crazy with recovering from Lyme disease, going to college full time online, breast reduction surgery and then we started homeschooling all five of our littles so you can see why I have not been posting. That does not mean I have not wanted to because I have just way to much going on to unclog the writers block or perhaps not enough to inspire it free.   The reason I am writing a post today is to share something big, really big, that we are getting ready to do. This month despite all of our normal chaos we have been led to host a huge fundraiser for a friend of ours who just happens to be as crazy as me right down to the house full of kids, hubby in the military and homeschooling to boot! What is the fund raiser for? Why to add to their family tree of course! You see she and her husband both felt the call to adopt a d...

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...