101 Things Update

Here is my 101 Things Update for January and February:

#8 Finish Paying Off Debts

We are now $13,000 away from becoming totally debt free!

#23 Revamp Our Home Filing System

This process is almost finished. I basically need to finish labeling files and folders to make the system easier to use.

#29 Stop Drinking Diet Soda

I have slipped on this one a couple of times, but I am okay with what I am doing now...drinking soda only once a week or so. As a result, I adjusted the goal to "Stop buying soda." I have discovered that when you stop buying it, you stop drinking it!

#32 Stop Biting My Nails

I haven't bitten or torn at my nails for a good 2 weeks. I'm working hard to keep this habit broken!

#59 Invite the Sunday School Class Over for a Game Night

We held this event last Saturday night, and it was a great success!

#76 Have 24 date nights

1/24 completed. We've got some work to do on that one!

#79 Change the Drawer Pulls on My Desk

I have purchased the new pulls and a few of them have been put on. Hubby started this job but didn't finish it. I love how they look! (The picture shows the style of the new pulls at the top and the old pulls at the bottom. I got this desk from my grandma when we moved. I think it was from the 70's!)

#95 Read 12 New Non-Fiction Books

3/12 completed. I read The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls.

#99 Stop using margarine (new addition to the list after deleting something else that I can't remember)

We stopped buying tub margarine and are now just leaving a stick of butter out on the counter for toast, pancakes, etc. I'm going to try whipping it with some canola oil to make it stretch.

Sweet Pretzel Recipe

My friend Heather gave me a baggie of these sweet pretzels for Christmas, and I, despite the fact that I am not a pretzel lover, LOVED them. In fact, I could have eaten them all in one sitting if I had let myself.

A few days ago when I was looking for something to make for a Sunday School party, I stumbled upon this recipe in my Taste of Home cookbook for what looked like the same thing. They taste very much the same as the pretzels Heather made and were a big success at the party!

Here is the recipe:

Sweet Pretzel Nuggets

1 package (16 ounces) sourdough pretzel nuggets (I just used traditional pretzels).

2/3 cup canola oil

1/3 cup sugar

1 to 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1. Place pretzels in a microwave-safe bowl. In a small bowl, combine oil, sugar and cinnamon; pour over pretzels and toss to coat.

2. Microwave, uncovered, on high for 1-1/2 minutes; stir. Microwave 2-3 minutes longer, stirring after each minute, or until oil is absorbed. Cool to room temperature. Store in an airtight container.

This is a delicious frugal snack that takes just a few minutes to throw together. All of us in the picture below highly recommend it!

Good News in Song - Day by Day

Good News! Good News in Song is back! This will be an ongoing series but will not run on any certain schedule. I will just write as I feel inspired.

One of highlights of my college career was singing in the Anderson University Chorale. We toured the United States and the world singing music that reached into the depths of my soul.

Each fall, we would participate in a retreat at Yellow Creek Lake Camp to build group morale and get a start on learning our music for the semester. One of the most anticipated moments of the retreat was on the last morning when we had a class sing-off. The freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors, and super-seniors (I can't remember if they were included with the seniors or not) competed against one another by singing one of the songs we had just learned that weekend. The older groups, who knew what was up, would add hilarious commentary or impersonations to their performance, while the freshmen stood there, wondering, "Why didn't we think of that?"

My freshman year, I stood with people who would become my dear friends and sang my favorite song of the weekend: Day by Day. Although it was one of the simplest songs I ever sang in chorale, it was also one of the most spiritually enriching. I had heard the hymn growing up, but listening to the mingling of the four-part harmony and memorizing each verse led me to look at it in a whole new way.

Day by Day

Music by Oscar Ahnfeldt/Lyrics by Lina Sandell

Day by day, and with each passing moment,

Strength I find to meet my trials here;

Trusting in my Father's wise bestowment,

I've no cause for worry or for fear.

He, whose heart is kind beyond all measure,

Gives unto each day what He deems best,

Lovingly its part of pain and pleasure,

Mingling toil with peace and rest.

Every day the Lord Himself is near me,

With a special mercy for each hour;

All my cares He fain would bear and cheer me,

He whose name is Counsellor and Pow'r.

The protection of His child and treasure

Is a charge that on Himself He laid;

"As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure,"

This the pledge to me He made.

Help me then, in every tribulation,

So to trust Thy promises, O Lord,

That I lose not faith's sweet consolation,

Offered me within Thy holy Word.

Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting,

E'er to take, as from a father's hand,

One by one, the days, the moments fleeting,

Till with Christ the Lord I stand.

Source: http://www.hymnal.net/hymn.php/h/713#ixzz1EjrDZGJY

I apologize that I cannot find a good recording of this song on Youtube. None of them do justice to the memory I treasure.

The following is a history of the hymn that I found at http://www.hymnal.net/hymn.php/h/713

"The waves of revival that swept the Scandinavian countries during the latter half of the nineteenth century were greatly influenced by the wealth of fine hymns which flowed from the pen of Lina Sandell.

Born on October 3, 1832, in Sweden, Lina was a daughter of a pastor. When she was twenty-six years of age, she accompanied her father on a journey to Gothenburg, but tragedy occurred before the destination was reached. The ship gave a sudden lurch and Lina’s father fell overboard, and drowned before the eyes of his devoted daughter.

Soon many songs began to flow out of her broken heart. Her songs reflect a simple child-like trust in Christ, and deep sense of His abiding presence in her life, including “Day By Day.'"

What a source of encouragement as we meet our daily challenges!

Apparently I did not take any pictures at Chorale Retreat 2002. By the way, I just about fainted when I realized that has been almost 10 years ago. I do have these pics of our class doing the sing-off in 2003.

Do you know this hymn? Have you had the incredible experience of singing choral arrangements of hymns?

Shopping Changes

As much as I enjoy my bi-monthly deal hunting, I am burnt out! As a result, the idea of once-a-month shopping trips is appealing to me more and more. This way, I would only be spending one Saturday per month on shopping.

The disadvantage to this approach is that I may miss some great deals at the drugstores. For instance, the Register Rewards at Walgreen's expire after just two weeks. You see, I have tried monthly shopping trips before, but when I receive those rewards, I can't stand the idea of wasting them, so I make the half hour trek to the closest store every two weeks even if I don't need to. While I'm there, I stop at Walmart, Save a Lot, etc., and spend more money saving money. As wonderful as it is to stock up on free stuff from the drug stores, I'm just not sure it's worth it. I may save just as much money (or more) by shopping less.

Here is another motivation for me. I spend $2.00 on a Sunday paper every week JUST for the coupons. Neither Seth nor I actually care to read the newspaper. I know that may seem a travesty to some, but we get our news online, on TV, and on the radio. I just don't want to spend $8.00 on coupons every month, even though I save more than that every month couponing, especially when most of the coupon inserts seem to be filled with ads for ugly house dresses and diabetic socks. For my monthly shopping trips, I am hoping I can find most of the same coupons online. Without the newspaper coupons and flyers coming into my house on a weekly basis, I will be less tempted to run out and spend money to get a good deal.

Don't get me wrong, I still think using coupons is a good idea. I am just too busy right now to pour myself into it like I have been. Plus, I really want to try to make more of my own food and cleaning products from scratch, and couponing just doesn't contribute much to those kinds of things. For instance, how often can you find a coupon for a gallon of vinegar or a bag of flour? I have put off making a homemade alternative to deodorant and making a powdered cream of anything soup mix just because I've had coupons to buy that stuff from the store. Maybe cutting back on my couponing will inspire me to actually experiment and try some of these things. If they don't work, I can always go back.

What are your thoughts? Is it possible to save just as much money shopping less often as you do shopping more often with lots of coupons?

Progress at Home

I am so proud of myself! Even after all the cooking I've done in the past two weeks, I have kept the kitchen clean pretty much all the time. I say "pretty much" because I fell off the wagon last night. After I cooked my turkey tetrazini, which used a lot of dishes, I fell asleep on the couch. Seth has promised to work on that this morning. Based on my experience, I have discovered the key to a tidy kitchen: emptying clean dishes from the dishwasher right away. When we are unable to put dirty dishes directly into the dishwasher, the dish gnomes come out and spread bowls and plates and glasses all over the kitchen counters. I made another discovery, too. When the kitchen is clean, the rest of the house stays clean. When it is dirty, the gnomes move into the other rooms and wreak havoc.

I have spent a few minutes each day decluttering, and that has certainly helped the whole situation, which leads me to yet another discovery: I have noticed that the more clutter there is, the dirtier the floors get. How is that possible? I don't know, but it's true! I am just now noticing the need to mop even though it has been a couple weeks since I did it last. Even the most high traffic areas just don't look that dirty.

I was home sick two days this past week. By the afternoon and evening of the 2nd day, I was feeling bored from lying on the couch and decided to sort through some paperwork. It was like that story When You Give a Mouse a Cookie, because one thing led to another and pretty soon I had gone through two big grocery bags of papers that have needed filing from two years! Everything is now in the filing cabinet in its appropriate folder. That has really been bothering me, and I feel so relieved now that it's done.

Something I need to tweak is my system of doing laundry. I have been putting in a load in the morning, drying it (or attempting, considering my dryer's technology issues) in the evening, and then falling asleep or forgetting about it as it sits in the dryer. It then gets taken from the dryer to the living room floor and sits in an ever-growing pile of clean laundry that needs to be folded. As I look at the pile now, I feel overwhelmed. Seth does a good job folding laundry and does help me, and for that I am thankful. I just have to ask him OFTEN :)

Whatever the case may be, I am sure excited to be making progress in my homemaking duties! How do you maintain your home?

New Furniture and the Domino Effect

Recently we acquired a large storage cabinet from my in-laws. This cabinet housed my husband's toys, video games, and TV when he was little and shared a room with his two brothers.

Doesn't it just look like it was made for that space? We had our TV there before, but we did not have all the extra shelving. The top two shelves house games, and the shelf above the TV contains videos that have not yet been replaced by DVDs as well as video/computer games. The shelf below the TV houses the VCR/DVD player and our vintage NES.

Having a place for all the videos eliminated the need for the hand-me-down, not-so-attractive video cabinet that used to sit in the corner of the living room. Now the corner looks like this!

Having a place for all the games gave me an empty bookcase that can now be used for--you guessed it--books! I got the idea to stack the two bookshelves on top of one another and place them by the door. The baskets hold mail and keys.

Stacking the bookshelves opened up another corner, where I placed the glider rocker I received from my grandmother's belongings. This is the chair I use for my devotions. It used to sit in the office.

Moving the chair left an empty space in the office, which offers the perfect place to set up the keyboard, which has been floating around without a home for quite some time now. This adds a lot of floor space to the office, and now I will have my keyboard at the ready during my school planning sessions!

Where has this new cabinet been all my life? :)

This Week's Meal Plan

It has been quite some time since I created a meal plan. To be honest, I am just now getting my life back in order from the holidays. I believe I am finally ready for a new year. Too bad January 1st didn't wait until I was ready!

Rather than doing a two week meal plan, I am going to try a weekly plan. Maybe I will be more likely to stick with it if I tackle a shorter amount of time, even though it does make more sense to do a two -week plan based on my shopping schedule. Anyway, when I did the two-week plan, we didn't end up needing about half the meals because we had plenty of leftovers, so maybe this plan WILL last two weeks...Life is all about experimentation, right?

Breakfasts will include granola, yogurt, shredded wheat cereal, hot wheat cereal, boiled eggs, toast

Lunches will include leftovers, sandwiches, fruit, yogurt, soup, lettuce salads

Here is the dinner schedule:

Monday- Roasted whole chicken in the crock pot, potatoes, and carrots

Tuesday- Spinach lasagna roll ups and salad

Wednesday- Chicken salad sandwiches (made with leftover shredded chicken from Monday)

Thursday- Leftovers

Friday- Taco Salad, peach smoothies

Saturday- Dinner out with the church family

Sunday- Lentil barley stew, blueberry muffins

Notice that I have planned for two meatless meals and only one red meat meal. Also, I am planning dessert for only two meals.