Because Why Not...

sit in the sink?

or hide in the cupboard?

or sit in a drawer?

and search for something good?

like q-tips!

Fruit of the Spirit

I've been participating in a Bible study at our church for the past 5 weeks. We are going through Beth Moore's "Living Beyond Yourself". It is about the fruit (not fruitS-- ONE fruit, multiple qualities) of the Spirit.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law."

Galatians 5:22-23

The past few weeks were focused on building a foundation for our study, but this week was the study of the first quality- love. We are only halfway through the week and I am already learning so much and LOVING it. It doesn't hurt that Beth Moore rocks! And if you haven't done one of her studies... find one ASAP and do it! She has such a heart for Jesus and for women. But Beth Moore aside, I am really enjoying learning more about agape love. This is not sexual (eros) love, or friendship (philia) love, but deep, passionate, Jesus-filled love. It's the kind of love that God has for us. There are no strings attached. There are no expectations. It's just raw love. I'm SO enjoying digging into my Bible to find definitions of this love and evidence of this love. It's right here in front of us and all we have to do is grab it. Here's a great article explaining how to become a Christian and truly know God's love for us. And the other awesome thing is that this study is available online (here)! You can order the member book and then watch each video from your computer. I did this with another study of Beth's (Believing God) and it was so nice to be able to do it from my living room!

I hope you all are participating in some kind of fellowship in your life right now... it's so beneficial. And I pray that you can experience God's awesome love, too! Have a wonderful week :)

Hello, Fall!

I LOVE this time of year. The weather cools down (finally), there's a crispness in the air, sweaters get pulled out of storage, socks and slippers come out, hot coffee makes its return. Ah... I love it. It's also the beginning of the holiday season, and that thrills me! I can't really explain it so it will only make sense to those of you who feel the same, but there's a tingly happy feeling that lingers around this time of year. It feels different than the rest of the year. And I honestly don't know how to word it except that it just makes me so happy. It's obviously bittersweet since we can't spend these holidays as a complete family, but I know that these months will fly by and our family will be together again soon!

We went to the pumpkin patch this past weekend and had a lot of fun. I took advantage of aGroupon deal for a deluxe pass to Cobb Ranch. The weather wasn't as lovely as it could have been, but nevertheless it was still fun! Here's some picture proof :)

The Best Kind of Afternoon

Spending time with my favorite little guys!

Mojo Update... and some other stuff- Part 2

Mojo has been doing well since her surgery, however she has been refusing to drink any water. I've been syringe feeding her because that's the only way she would get any liquid. I also noticed that when she went outside to potty, she was squatting multiple times... which is why I took her in in the first place. Oy! So I called the vet and took her back in today for a follow-up urinalysis. Good news! Everything looks perfect! The only thing is that her urine wasn't very concentrated. Ha! So it's almost like she's getting too much water. Who would have thought?! They put her on canned food so that has more water than her normal dry food. So, needless to say, they don't want me feeding her any more water. They said to keep her collar off most of the time and see if she will just eat and drink like normal. They didn't really answer any questions about her squatting a lot, but they seemed satisfied with the fact that her urinalysis was normal. So for now, things are good! PLUS, there was a mix-up and she has dissolvable stitches (instead of removable ones) so I don't have to take her back in to get anything removed. SCORE! Thanks again for your love and prayers!

On a totally different topic, my sister-in-law had her baby!!! She had a loooong and tough labor, and after 2.5 hours of pushing she ended up having a c-section. Things happened very similarly to how things happened with Jax (except her C went smoothly, and mine didn't). Apparently Jax's cousin wants to be just like him already. Ha!

Meet Elijah Joseph

8.1 pounds and 22 inches long

Welcome to the world little guy!

I will post more pictures once things are settled with Elijah at home and his mommy and daddy have a chance to announce him to the world :)

Mojo Update... and some other stuff

I picked Mojo up from the hospital yesterday morning! Everything went smoothly with the surgery and there were no complications. We have to wait for the results from the stone, but besides that everything is good! She has stitches and has to wear a cone for 10-14 days. Poor thing... she looks PATHETIC. And I think she's mad at me :) But of course I know it's for the best and she'll be back to her lovey dovey self in no time. She even managed to still sleep under the covers last night, with her cone! Ha! Thanks so much for your prayers for my girl... I felt a lot of peace about it on Thursday and now everything is good!

On a separate note, my sister-in-law Jenny was induced yesterday! She refused Pitocin so it has been a looooong, slooooow labor. The doctors think that my nephew will be born today, but probably not until tonight. We are all hoping he won't come out until after midnight because then his birthday will be 10-10-10! How fun would that be?! I (and possibly Jax) will be spending this evening at the hospital waiting for this little guy to enter the world. We are all on pins and needles because they've kept his name a secret. We can't wait to find out... and I can't wait to hold a newborn again! I'm just a *little* baby crazy :) I will post pictures as soon as I can. In the meantime, I'm off to the store to stock up their fridge and pantry for when they're home from the hospital. Woo hoo!

CVS!

I haven't done a couponing post in while, but I had a rock star day between CVS and Target so I thought I should share.

Target-

I spent $12 and saved $15... Here's the breakdown:

Transaction 1-

2 Mott's applesauce @ $1.67 each (on sale, but not sure what's full price)

3 Mott's AJ @ $1.75 each (on sale, but not sure what's full price)

*received $5 gift card for purchasing 5 Mott's products, so the applesauce worked out to be $0.67 each and the juice was $0.75 each!

Transaction 2-

2 Lunchables @ $1 each (regular price $1.52)

3 Philadelphia cream cheese @ $1.99 each

2 Kraft block cheese @ $1.99 each

*used $1/2 Lunchables Target coupon

*used $1/2 Philadelphia cream cheese Target coupon

*used $1/2 Kraft cheese Target coupon

**They screwed up and didn't scan my $5/5 Kraft products coupon (and I didn't realize it until later... sad face) so I have to go back and see if they will adjust it. It should end up only being $7 spent instead of $12

CVS-

I spent $11 and saved $78!

Transaction 1-

1 Oral-B Vitality electric toothbrush @ $23

*used $10 manufacturer's coupon (MQ) from Sunday's paper

*used $7.98 ECB's

*got $13 ECB in return

Transaction 2-

1 Oral-B Vitality electric toothbrush @ $23

1 Halloween 100 count lights @$2.99 (regularly $3.99)

1 Halloween pumpkin bucket @$1.99

1 Huggies Little Snugglers (for my nephew who is due ANY DAY!)

1 Handy Manny large coloring book on clearance @$0.79

1 3pk disposable cake trays on clearance @ $0.73

*used another $10 Oral B MQ

*used $5 off Halloween products CVS coupon

*used $2 Huggies MQ

*used $21 ECB's (the cashier accidentally used the same $7.98 from the previous transaction, which I did not realize until just now... OOPS!!)

I would say overall it was a pretty good day! Hope ya'll are having a good one too :)

Surgery

My sweet Mojo doggy is having surgery on Thursday. I originally posted HERE about her having some urinary issues. After a week of medication, things seemed to be getting worse instead of better. I was pretty unhappy with how Banfield handled everything in the first place so I decided to take her to the vet my parents use. I took her in Saturday morning and they did an ultrasound. They found a stone in her bladder. A pretty big one (for her size- 6lbs) and the only way to fix it is to surgically remove it. I am taking her in first thing on Thursday morning. They will run some tests, prep her, do her surgery then assess her condition. They will make sure she's stable then leave her overnight to recover. The next morning they will re-assess and make sure everything looks good then release her. Her surgery will consist of a large incision in her abdomen, then they will open her bladder and remove the stone. They will test the stone to see what caused it and see what further treatment may be needed. Then they will stitch everything back up. It's pretty major surgery and is apparently very painful

I am having a really hard time with everything. I'm pretty sad and very scared about complications. She's my first baby and I love her a whole lot. I'm trying really hard to lean on the Lord and trust that he will care for her. Please pray with me between now and Thursday. I would also covet your prayers for Thursday during the day while she is in surgery, and the recovery days to follow. I think it's going to be a tough recovery for her. I trust the veterinarian (he's been doing this for 25 years... plus he's a veteran!), but it's still really hard not to worry about Mojo.

Thanks for your love and prayers for my girl!