Concerts

so most of the time troy and i click about nearly everything. there's one area where our 7 years difference in age causes us to not click: music. i'm not even sure what types of bands he likes, but i can nearly guarantee it's not what i get the most pleasure from. yet i'm learning to chill out and listen to whatever - unless we are on our way to church... (i just can't seem to handle 80's rock music with the electric guitars (not that i ever like that music)!

so i found this concert, but there aren't any atlanta dates yet. (my first name is written in 'aren't any atlanta') so i'm really, really hoping they book one atlanta date... this concert looks amazing.

Updates

troy and i (and the boys) have decided that we're committed to TLC Church. the kiddos mostly decided for us, but troy and i are excited about committing to a church home. i've already committed to a women's bible study beginning in september. looking forward to getting to know some of the other women, and studying the book of Daniel.

my parents are coming into town over labor day weekend. not sure what we'll end up doing, but we've been planning a few things. don't you just love surprises?

troy's birthday is coming up in about week. he's given me about a thousand suggestions about what to give him, but unfortunately most of them require lots of cash. here's a list: a corvette z06, a vw van with the pop-up camper, some type of lift kit to lower his truck, a new bumber for his truck, etc. mr. high maintenance may be unimpressed with what he actually gets from me on his his first birthday with me in his life. (then again, did he have a life before me?) just kidding.

we are house-sitting for some friends of mine this weekend. it's like a beautiful break from normal life for me. i'm looking forward to spending some time in the hammock. not sure troy is as excited about this adventure as i am, but he'll be okay.

Oddities

seems odd to me that 1/2 way across the world there is a war. the people in georgia and russia seem to be brawling. i don't even know what a war of that calibre would be like. yet, i know what it feels like to have dissension. i'm not really comparing the two, but there is great hurt involved in both types. i was reading an article on cnn about that war. i see that the georgians are pulling their troops from iraq in order to battle on the home front. that's rough. yet, there has to be a reason for it all: freedom.

people fight for freedom. freedom is not free. i have said that phrase many times, and i may go to my grave saying that. the freedom that i receive from Christ on a daily basis comes at a price. there was a great sacrifice, involving a life, two thousand years ago. yesterday during church i was reminded of that. the sacrifice was because of something i was bound to - something which ruled my life and held me captive. if i return to those things which oppressed me, i might as well tell Christ that His sacrifice wasn't enough. so am i living a life which displays freedom? or am i living a life like a defeated person who has no hope that tomorrow shall be better than today? am i living a life which is aiming at perfection, or i am failing to live up to the life Christ calls me to live? are there sins in my life which i have become accustom to live with - and i justify them because they make me feel good? for these sins, am i seeking God's guidance, and am i asking friends to hold me accountable to stay on the straight and narrow?am i being honest with my husband about the way i feel, or am i holding back in fear that i may hurt his feelings?

troy and i have been married 3 months now. it's been a great 3 months. we have had some trying times, but overall the transition from singleness to married wife has been quite smooth. troy has definitely made it easy to fall into that married roll. our biggest trials involved parenting styles and money. big surprise there, huh?

i'm getting a little tired of steve fee's song, lift high. when are the broken people going to realize that they are made whole in Christ? how many times do i need to lift up my head in order to realize that my chains are undone and my ransom paid? just curious.

went to a certain church yesterday. wasn't so impressed. neither troy nor i were ever spoken to by anyone throughout their entire service. i need a friendly church - somewhere i feel wanted and welcomed. i may be the exception to the rule, but i like those 'meet and greet' moments during church when someone is nearly required to say, 'hello' to me.

Oh how i love CVS

took another journey to CVS today with troy. purchased the following items:

CVS is running a deal on Lamisilk foot cream and that's my favorite kind of foot cream. makes my feet (and troy's) silky soft. this week if you buy 2 lotions, you'll get $10 extra care bucks. lucky for me, i had 2 coupons for lamisilk lotion, both for $3 off and some other extra care bucks coupons equalling $7. also i had a coupon for $.99 (a free cvs chapblock).

see receipt:

ok, so i paid $9.97 after all the coupons. So get this: at the bottom of the receipt, printed my $10 coupon. so that totalled my purchased today at -$.03 plus 2 tubes of lotions, a packages of tylenol and some chapblock. i absolutely love cvs.

troy just shakes his head then says, i spend what you save. (gotta love my husband's honesty.)

Frugal

so i've been looking around the apartment for things i (we) could sell for a little extra cash. so far i've conned denise into buying my guitar for $75 and have listed my wedding dress on craigslist. i'm thinking of selling my beloved GPS, but i don't think i can out of it what it is worth to me. it's an ifinder PhD, worth about $175. so if you know anyone who might want a handheld GPS for a decent price, let me know.

i've been checking out different people's blogs regarding their frugal life-styles. some people take it a little to the extreme, but i don't see anything wrong in using our money in the most effecient way possible. for me, buying a sunday paper more than pays for itself each week. i use many of the coupons to save some cash for items we need, as you could see from my last shopping experience at cvs. don't get me wrong, i can definitely see where the $.50 coupon off of 3 boxes of cereal seem completely ridiculous, but did you know you can use 3 different $.50 coupons for the same 3 boxes of cereal? most people don't realize that. then you'll be saving $1.50 for the 3 boxes - this is how the coupons can save money. just a suggestion.

so i tried to take troy's truck for an oil change at my local auto repair shop, but there was a note on the door, 'Gone racin. Be back Monday.' gotta love small fix-it shops. guess the oil change will need to wait a day or two.

for a wedding gift troy and i received nascar race tickets to a great race in miami. last night troy found us some killer airline tickets so we are flying down there instead of driving - the tickets equal less than we'd be paying in gasoline. definitely makes the flight worthwhile. also, i'm looking forward to flying somewhere again. about every 6 months i like to take a little flight out of town.

i keep thinking of things to write, but now that i'm married - i feel like i shouldn't share the things troy and i talk about for all the world to read. guess there's a privacy line required for those interesting discussions. all i know is that troy has some super funny things he says, and he could probably say the same for me. I love being married to him.

what's up with insurance not covering the cost of birth control? i'm pretty excited cuz i found a coupon which takes $35 off my next prescription, but still at $65 a month for the pill, i'm nearly going broke. yet, hear me out, it's ALL worth it! it's so much less expensive than the alternative.

guess i'm rambling something terrible today.

Music

found a new artist: Alli Rogers. it's often amazing to me how i can find a song with lyrics that speak directly to my heart at exactly the time when i need it the most.

tanzania

It’s eight hours later in Tanzania
When Jen lays down
Mary’s just opening her eyes
Her child’s feet land on the ground
and dirt scatters
And she feels left out in the open
always left out in the open
She says, “son, wear my shoes to school today”
He turns and smiles and walks away
and she thinks to herself…

Someday I will wake
where the earth is clean and safe
My children have a place to play
not here in Tanzania
And someday I will live
in a house that’s built by
hands that hold the world

It’s eight hours earlier in Chattanooga
Mary sits down and Jen’s just put the coffee on
Katie Couric is talking news and fashion
and Jen feels pushed into a corner
always pushed into a corner, she says
“Baby I know what girls at school are like”
And her daughter rides off on her bike
and Jen thinks to herself…

Someday I will wake
where my children get a break
And there are chances that they’ll take
not here in Chattanooga
Someday I will live
in a house that’s built by
hands that hold the world

Well it’s hard to be mother
and it’s hard to be a woman
and it’s hard to live in Africa sometimes
It’s hard to be mother
and it’s hard to be a woman
and it’s hard to live in America sometimes

But someday I will wake
in a body that won’t break
On ground that doesn’t shake, not here
And someday I will live
in a house that’s built by hands that hold the world

y i <3 cvs

just got back from cvs. i absolutely love that store. it is by far, hands down, my favorite store in the whole world. i feel like the world's greatest shopper every time i walk out of that store. it's amazing. troy loves getting my call after my cvs trips. you should ask him how much he loves my calls after my shopping excursions to cvs.

allow me to explain the reason for my deep devotion to cvs.

below is a photo of the items i purchased this evening.

let me list the items with their sale prices:
dawn dish soap (.88)
one bottle of gillette shower wash (3.99)
2 bottles of pert plus shampoo (b1g1 @ 3.69)
crest toothpaste (2.49)
oral b toothbrush (2.49)
2 types of covergirl foundation (b1g1 @ 7.99)
2 bottles of women's multi vitamins (b1g1 @ 8.99)

how much do you think you should pay for all these items? i'm not going to add up the original cost of all of them, but i would guess somewhere around 40 bucks.

see the following receipt for what i paid:

ok, so you might see all those coupons taken off. those are all from this week's ads from the sunday paper and some extra care bucks coupons from the cvs store. what you can't see from the receipt is that is says today you saved $44.92.

but wait! there's more.
at the bottom of my receipt i have some extra care bucks for $3 off my next purchase and a coupon for some free chapblock. in sunday's paper is a mail in rebate for the pert plus. if i were to spend $5 for pert plus, i will receive $5 rebate. (not sure they will accept this deal, because i haven't spent $5 yet, so i'll need to buy 2 more bottles (minus a $2 coupon from the paper).
so that deal after mail in rebate, after coupons, after store sale will be:
4 bottles of pert plus for
3.69 x 2 = 7.38
minus 2 $2 off coupons = 3.38
minus the $5 rebate
= 4 bottles of pert plus and $1.62 in my pocket.

so in all reality , i spent less than $11 for the whole lot of items. dont you want to run to cvs for some shopping?

Truth Like a Knife

sometimes the truth cuts like a knife... deep and painful.

this post may end up being a myriad of thoughts - mangled together like a cup of goulash.

since i've been married, i've learned that i have a tons of pet peeves - i knew i had them before, but they come out more when people are intimately involved in my life. this one: i like clean floors. i like to walk around the house barefooted on clean carpet and linoleum. i dislike sticky/chunky/messy floors. walking thru the sticky kitchen floor makes me irritated. stepping on crunchy cereal and those crunchy noodles while walking across the carpet gets my goat. (i need all hardwood floors.)

so i lost it this weekend. troy got more than an earful - i broke his heart and started his sunday morning off in a terrible way. (guess i wanted to share the misery.)

with that being said, troy and i are still making up. guess it was our first argument which amounted to me telling my thoughts and troy getting hurt. i don't like me when i behave that way. proof that i need grace in a bad way. i'm so grateful for my husband who offers grace freely.

[my God,
some times life gets messy. proverbs 27.6 says, 'wounds from a friend can be trusted.' so i'm calling out to You for the ability to trust that things will work out. i need to believe that Your grace is sufficient, even for me. You are able to change things, and i am taking You at Your word. fill me with Your grace that i may be able to share it, instead of breathe vile fire. I've seen You prove Yourself time and time again in my life, and i know You won't let me down. i open myself up to You to break me; burn up the hurt, brokenness, and pride within me. the process of getting fine metals is not an easy one, yet i want to know Your kiln. i'm climbing back on your altar again, and asking for mercy. help me to be a gracious and loving mom, wife and friend.]

My Boss

so i have a great boss. i can't speak highly enough of him. so my boss, another co-worker and i are all in the kitchen and he tells us a story (all the while he's cleaning up the kitchen - taking out the trash, replacing the paper towels, etc.) so here's the story: he asked our service manager, 'how much do you think one of these bags of trash weighs?' the service manager replies, 'i'm not sure.' then my boss's comeback, 'well, you might want to pick one out of the trash can every now and then so you know.'

classic! that's just golden right there.

so troy's dad's sixtieth b-day party is tomorrrow. troy's picking up the kiddos tonight. ahh, a story about the kiddos. so last night lacey, shottie, denise and i went out to eat dinner. lacey asked the question, 'so when do your boys go back to school?' i wasn't really paying attention to whom she was talking to, so i thought she was talking to me. then denise answered the question. so i realized the the question was directed at denise, but it dawned on me that i'm getting to be more of a mom than i thought. i absolutely love michael and alex (and their dad too!). btw, their first day of school is the eleventh of August.