New Addiction

Sorry for the lack of postings this week. I had written a really long post one night and realized it was really late so I had better wait to publish until the next morning when I would be able to tell if it made any sense or not. I don't know if anyone else has to do that, but I just can't rely on my usage of the English language at certain times of the night. Upon re-reading it the next morning, I realized how very boring it was. I wrote it and I thought it was boring, so I'm sure you would have thought the same. I was writing about my new addiction as of the last week or so: grocery coupons! I have learned a few new "tricks" recently about saving money on the grocery bill, and while I've tried using coupons before in an effort to save money on groceries, I have never been that successful. I'm realizing what all I had done wrong. I'm learning about new savings opportunities and resources, and I'm just having a blast with it. Two weeks ago, I was completely overwhelmed by the prospect of implementing some of these money-saving strategies, not thinking it was possible to do it well at this stage of my life. It takes too much time, I thought! I'm already not very skilled with time-efficiency. But it's a miracle! I'm doing it! I'm really doing it! And while I'm an amateur and have just begun, I've already seen incredible savings on my grocery bill. And that is such a thrill. I was telling friends, it's like working out...once you start seeing some results from your fitness efforts, it becomes so much easier to make time to go to the gym. Similarly, I have found plenty of time to plan and prepare for these grocery trips, and the savings I'm seeing just drives me to save more and more! It's like I've been in competition with myself all this week, trying to get better and better at this. And if I were completely honest...a competition with my mother too! She's queen of this, and I'd like to find one great deal or bargain...just ONE....that she doesn't already know about! That will be quite a challenge. So, that's what's been occupying much of my brain these last couple of weeks. I decided this time to spare you all the details of what these strategies actually are, but trust me, if you're interested, you can let me know and I'll be happy to share! Because it's exciting to me! And if I can have success in this area (with my struggles in the areas of organization, time management, details-orientation, productivity, and being the most physically tired this week than I can remember), anyone can!

And for those of you who have been asking to see nursery pictures, well...it's still not ready. But I'll give you some sneak peaks. I'm waiting on the rest of the bedding for the daybed (someone is making it and should have it ready pretty soon), some baskets to go under the crib for storage (because right now it just looks junky with all this stuff thrown under there), and I have one whole wall that is empty. I have a few ideas for the wall but haven't decided exactly what I want, but I think it won't be decorated until long after she's here because that wall might include pictures of her. But anyway, here's what the bedding looks like:



And my sweet friend Ame hung Parker's letters on the wall this week for me. I can't explain it, but it seemed too overwhelming of a task for me. God bless her servant's heart! She's great at making stuff like that look pretty. Much prettier than I could do, that's for sure!

And here's a glimpse of some of the fabric for the daybed:

It's been fun this week hearing of exciting news from a couple of friends: Alissa and Angela. I'm thrilled for them that God is adding new life to these families. Girls, I'm praying!