Extreme Couponing

So Johnny and I are starting a new money-saving adventure!  Exciting, I know.  Johnny discovered this new show on TLC called 'Extreme Couponing'.  Its about people who spend way too much of their time clipping coupons, and keeping their eye open for sales.  The key is to wait for sales on certain items, and then collect manufacturers coupons for those items, and use both of the discounts at the same time.  The episode I watched had a woman with a $1200 grocery bill, and after using her coupons she ended up paying only $60!!!  That is crazy!!!  But she had like 100 sticks of deodorant and like 500 chocolate bars or something stupid like that.  These people stock their houses like grocery stores...its nuts.
So anyway, after watching this show, Johnny was motivated to clip coupons and watch for sales.  I'm all about saving money...but I don't want to go overboard with this!  I have a life, ya know!  The people on this show treat couponing like their full time job!
So today was our first grocery shopping trip with our newly clipped coupons.  Our grocery bill was $92.54, and we saved $23.15.  Not bad for our first try!
The funniest part of tonight was trying to keep a straight face when Johnny went over the game plan before entering the grocery store.  I can honestly say that I don't now anyone like Johnny.  He always makes me laugh and never ceases to amaze me with the new things he comes up with every day.  And Sara sure was a trooper today!  She is sick, but she sat quietly and patiently in the cart as me and Johnny and I shopped.  What a great baby!!!

I love spending time with my family, even when its as simple as a grocery shopping trip all together!

Model for a day

So my cousin Darby is a hairstylist.  She asked me if I could be a model for her for this competition thing that her salon is entering.  Of course I said yes, it sounded super fun!
There were three models there.  Each one of us had a completely different look.  I was the Nicole Kidman Hollywood one, then there was a crazy colorful rainbow one, and a blonde Madonna looking one with feathers all in her hair.  As I sat there with Darby coloring my hair, and another hairstylist on the other side of my head helping her, I thought to myself, "this must be what celebrities feel like!".
We spent a few hours getting ready, which for me included dying my hair orange and red and yellow, and getting my make-up done (with fake eyelashes and all!).  After that we all dressed up in black and white outfits.  I wore fishnet stockings, a black sparkly skirt, black tank top, giant heels (which I couldn't stand in, let alone walk around in! I found myself swaying a lot...), and a big white fur coat.  I looked in the mirror and didn't recognize who was starting back at me!
Once we were all dressed up and ready to go, we started taking pictures.  There was a professional photographer and everything!  All I really did was just sit in the positions that they wanted me to, and look at whatever they were telling me to look at, without smiling.
It was a really fun day.  Darby did a fantastic job, and it was fun getting to hang out with her all day.  I can't wait to see some of the professional pictures, it seems like all of them are going to look REALLY cool!!!
Here are some of the pics that were taken on my phone, on the day I was a model!

Kenadee

My good friend Trisha asked me to take her daughter, Kenadee's 2 year old pictures.  I had so much fun chatting with little Kenadee and following her around the house while she played with all her new toys.  She is such a precious little girl!

Sara in her Wonderland

I love the movie Alice in Wonderland.  When we painted Sara's room before she was born, I wanted to create a little wonderland for our baby.  Here are a few pics of Sara in her wonderland!

Food Network, creativity, and the new year.

So I've been watching a lot of Food Network shows lately.  I used to watch the Food Network all the time years ago.  I used to want to be a chef, or a baker, or a cake decorator.  I love anything to do with food.  But what I love about watching cooking shows is the chefs creativity.  I can honestly say that I am a very creative person.  I always have been.  These shows remind me of that creativity.  I remember in elementary school I would take my lunch that my dad or mom had packed for me, and mix up random items of food together and eat them while putting on a cooking show for my fellow classmates.  Every lunch hour my friends would look forward to watching the "Marcy Show", where Marcy eats weird and crazy things.
I think my great aunt Sara had a lot to do with my creativity.  She taught me at a young age how to knit, crochet, and sew.  I enjoyed making things with her, and learning from her.  Now I experience such joy when I'm creating things, especially for others to enjoy.
Some of the many things I love doing are drawing, painting, knitting, crocheting, sewing, scrapbooking, card making, making jewelry, and photography.  I've been really into making jewelry for the past couple years.  I've had several jewelry parties and I really enjoy creating beautiful works of art that people can wear.  I feel so proud when I randomly see someone who is wearing a piece of my art.  But lately I've been really interested in photography.  I love capturing moments and making them beautiful.  I started getting more interested in it when I decided to take all of my little Sara's pictures on my own as she grows.  It can get expensive to take her to a photographer every couple months for a few pictures, so I wanted to try and do it myself.  I'm the kind of person who sees something and thinks, "Oh I can do it myself for cheaper!".  I really have no idea what I'm doing with a camera, and I have the cheapest editing program, but I sure have fun with it.  I definitely think that photography will stay just a hobby for me, because there are so many amazing photographers out there that I know, and I would rather leave this skill to them....because after all, they know what they're doing and I don't!
I am excited about this new year though.  I feel like its a fresh start, and a blank canvas for me in my creative world.  I want to start making my jewelry with sterling silver and gold, and some gem stones.  Fancy, huh?!  I have been making jewelry for fun up until now, and now I've finally realized my potential and want to move up and keep learning and maybe make this a little business for myself.  I love to share my jewelry with others.  So this is a goal for me for this year: to continue working on my jewelry and to improve it, and to take my jewelry making skills more seriously.  Yahoo!  I'm excited!  I would also love to sit down and paint a picture.  And I also would like to have some fun taking pictures for my friends as well as my little Sara.  I am very interested in learning more about how to use my complicated camera, about composition, and all that kind of fun photographer-ish stuff.
Anyway, I'm glad I got to share these things...I'm sitting here in bed at midnight trying to go to sleep, but new ideas keep running through my head.  Hopefully I'll find some time to be creative, because my number one priority is to be a good mommy to my precious little girl.  But I think of that as just another way of being creative!  I get to help teach and mold this little girl into who God wants her to be, and I am most excited about being a part of that.
Thank you Lord for creativity and the joy it brings me!

Tante Sara

My great aunt Sara, who I called 'Tante Sara' was a huge part of my life. I used to go to her house every Wednesday when I was younger. She made me mashed potatoes, steamed veggies (lima beans were my favorite) and scrambled eggs. As I got older I got to cook my own eggs and eventually graduated to sunny side up. We played hide and go seek (I always knew where she was hiding; behind a door), listened to records, read the bible, and did a whole lot of sewing, knitting and crocheting. She taught me about Jesus, how to be respectful and how to love others. She called me her little sister, even though she was about 60 years older than me. She was so proud of me.
As I got older I didn't have as much time to go and hang out with her. Our visits became less frequent. I would still go and visit and call her sometimes...but now that she's gone I wish that I would have made it a priority. So anyways, at night I would think of her and pray for her. I missed her, and so I would ask God if He could tell her "hello" for me, that I loved her and I was thinking of her. The next time I saw her I told her that I prayed for her, and asked God to tell her I was thinking of her and I loved her. She told me that she knew that, she could feel my prayers. God did what I asked Him to!
Now my precious tante Sara is in Heaven, and I miss her with all my heart. I was so overwhelmed the day my little baby was born, because I had her name picked out since I was a little girl...Sara. I just couldn't believe that I was a mom, and I had a little girl, and that my great aunt wasn't there to meet her. I would have given anything to have her hold little Sara. I remember laying in my hospital bed, and on the wall was a white board that had written on it, "Welcome to the world, Sara!!!" I cried every time I looked at it, because I remembered just a few years before, my great aunt laying in a similar bed breathing her last breath. I had to say "goodbye" to my tante Sara. 
Well the other night I had a dream. I was sitting there with tante Sara, catching up on the last five years of our lives. She had been in heaven, and I had been here. I got to a point in the conversation where I realized that I had a baby. So I asked her (in german) if she wanted to meet her. Of course she was so excited and couldn't wait to see her. So I brought my little daughter over to my great aunt, and I got to sit there and watch them laugh together and play together, and love eachother. I believe that God gave me this dream, just like He gave my tante Sara those "hello's" in my prayers years before. Maybe tante Sara asked Him to give me this dream, so that I could see both my precious Sara's together.

Selflessness

A couple weeks ago, my little Sara was fussing a lot. I knew it was time for her to eat, and I knew that the reason she was crying was because she was hungry. I tried to feed her, but she kept pushing herself away. Geez I was getting sooo frustrated! I knew what she needed, I knew what was best for her, but she wouldn't let me help her. So I told her, "Sara, I just wish you would let me help you, I know what's best for you! Please listen to mummy!"
I think that having a baby has been the most selfless thing I have ever done in my life. You have to give everything to your child...your body, your mind, your patience, your emotions, your love...your EVERYTHING. And it gets so frustrating when you're giving everything, and your child won't let you help them. They won't accept your everything. 
As I was sitting in my car thinking these things, I felt God speak to me. If I could have heard Him audibly, this is what I think He would have said, "Marcy, you are my child, and I give you my everything every day. I know what's best for you, and I always try to guide you and help you...but you don't always let me. I have been completely selfless in loving you, and I get frustrated when my children don't obey me." 
So I had this moment of understanding, and it reminded me to be obedient knowing that God is always selfless and always wants whats best for me. Now I just have to remember to obey, and trust, and remember that God loves me more than I could ever love my little Sara...who means the world to me.

Yup, I started my own blog.

I'm not a huge fan of blogs, but I have had some random thoughts and dreams that I have been wanting to share. Not necessarily with anyone in particular, I just feel like writing it down...and if someone happens to be interested in it, well great! I just want this to be a place where I can share my thoughts, ideas, creations, and my baby of course:) This will be my journal.