Even the Little Things

God loves us so much that He even cares about the little things....and that's a fact!





Here's my story:

I had a large braided rug under my kitchen table that my mother-in-law gave me years ago.  It was a beautiful rug and matched my kitchen perfectly!  A few months ago I noticed that it was starting to fall apart....I tried to sew it to no avail. It kept getting worse and worse and alas, I had to throw away my beloved rug.

What a bare kitchen without it!  I decided I would get a new one for Christmas.  Do you know how expensive Braided rugs are???  Whoa they are pricey....even if I would have put all my Christmas money together I still would have had to put more money towards it AND that's all I would have gotten for Christmas.  I knew that tax time was coming and knew I could wait until then.

But, remember how we decided to do a financial makeover??  Well, that meant our tax return was used to pay off debt and meant there was no money left for a rug for me.  I was bummed, but decided I would just get a cheap sisal rug and make do until I could save the money to buy a braided one.

So, you know how its been downright FROZEN this winter??  My kiddos had a two-hour delay on Friday and my normal babysitter wasn't available to put them on the bus.  I asked my mom to do it for me.  After she dropped them off for the bus she decided to swing into the local Re-Uzit shop and look around.  While there she found a huge braided rug for sale.  It was several colors of brown and was in great shape.  She looked at the price and noticed it was $25!!  TWENTY FIVE DOLLARS?!?!?!?! The rug was 11.5x 9.5!!!  That's a Phenomenal deal!! 

My mom bought it and I picked it up later that afternoon....once I got it home I realized it had a few holes, but they were all in the seams and were an easy fix.  It fits perfect in my kitchen and adds a cozy warmth to it!

My New Rug!

It might not have been the color I would have chosen, but it was the next best choice.  It's bigger than I would have bought and for $25, I didn't care.  Plus for that price its not a big loss if it doesn't last long. This story is a God story because my mom doesn't go in to the Re-Uzit shop very much, but she just "happened" to be going by because I needed a sitter that morning.  The rug just "happened" to be there and "happened" to be just what I was looking for and was a great price to boot!

I love sharing and hearing stories like this.  God knows everything about us and He even knows and cares about the small details.  He knew I wanted a rug for my kitchen, but knew that I didn't have the money to go out and buy one.  I feel this gift is God's way of blessing me for being faithful to Him.

We all know He cares about the BIG things...BUT, God cares about the little things too.  He is always there to bless us and provide for the little things. I could have just said thanks to my mom for getting me the rug and not looked any further than that. But I chose to see the blessing it was. God gave it to ME. 

How many times do we miss the blessings because we don't see them?  God has blessed us more than we can even fathom and half the time we take them for granted.  Did you wake up this morning?  Did you have a warm house, a car to drive, and food to eat??  All of these things are things we forget to be thankful for and see the blessings in them.  Your blessing might not be getting a new rug, but it could be finding shoes you need on sale or finding the purse you've been wanting at a yard sale. Take the time today to see God's blessings all around you.  Be thankful for the little things, because He really does Care...even about the little things!

Money Overhaul!

So you know how I posted the other week about planning and trying to have it all figured out?? Well, I still don't, BUT I am trying something new.

After the whole tire debacle the hubs and I decided that it was time to make some changes.  FINANCIAL CHANGES.....ugh....really?!!?

In January our church offered the Financial Peace University by Dave Ramsey.  My first initial reaction was we don't have that much debt, we don't use credit cards, we are fine.  But the more I thought about it I realized, that while that might be true, there was something else we didn't have.  SAVINGS....we (like most families) live paycheck to paycheck. Yes we pay our bills on time....I'm a planner remember?!..and have money to buy the things that we need some extras, but does that really mean we have financial peace?

Even though the class had already started and we didn't sign-up; I started doing research online and watching YouTube videos of Dave Ramsey and realized that his methods all made sense to me and were "easy" to put into practice. 

SO....hubs and I sat down and started looking.....really looking at our finances.  Boy was that hard.  Every dollar we made had to be accounted for each month and be designated to a certain place. We budgeted everything out and decided to go for it!

Dave Ramsey uses an envelope system.  This means you use CASH to pay for anything that is not a standing monthly bill.  You make envelopes for all the areas that you would use money throughout the month and decide how much you are going to spend monthly in those areas.  You may use whatever cash is in the envelope but when its gone...its GONE and you have to wait until the next week/month until the money is added again.  So I made envelopes for our 7 designated areas.

           GROCERIES
           PRESENTS/GIFTS
           EATING OUT
           CAR NEEDS- this came so I will have money to replace a tire if needed :)
           ALLOWANCE- x2 (mine and hubs)
           EXTRAS

*I could have put one for GAS but we already only use a set amount per week for gas and its easier to pay at the pump than going inside (especially with 2 kids in tow)*

So this week when I got paid instead of depositing my whole paycheck I figured out how much cash I was going to need to fill my envelopes with our weekly budget.  I then had to figure out how many $20, $10 and $5 I would need so that each envelope got its set amount.  Whew, this was getting time consuming, but I was determined.

I went into the bank and handed the teller my deposit slip, the first thing she said to me was "You always come through the drive-through!"  I smiled and said I'm trying something new!  I was happy to think that I'm taking control of my money and not letting it control me.

Then I proceeded to the grocery store....now here it can become a bit tricky.  I had averaged out what I spent on groceries the past 2 months and went from there.  BUT this time I only had a set amount, I had to stick with my $70 allotment for the week.  I couldn't get $100 worth of groceries one week and $50 the next because I only had $70.  So my calculator in hand, I started out with my list.

I made it through Sharp Shopper and headed to Giant.  I had about $45 left and about half of my list was complete.  I was feeling pretty good.  I got to Giant and noticed that they had Stromboli BOGO FREE....whoohoo...I had Stromboli on my menu for Sunday.  I could buy 2 of those to eat for Sunday lunch and this way I wouldn't have to make one.  The cost was 6.71 for both and that was a good deal for a lunch for my family of 4!  I proceeded to find my chicken breasts on sale and some steak I wanted for Valentine Dinner marked down as well.  Alright, God was blessing me for being smart with my money!!

I went over to get some Chobani Yogurts for the hubs and put them in my cart...my list was almost done.  I added my coffee creamer and needed a few more items...BUT it was then I realized that I was over $45 on my calculator.  Now came the struggle, I needed green beans, hamburger buns, and kidney beans for my chili.  What to do?  What to do???  I decided that since the yogurt was 3.79 I would put it back and then put my steak back as well and it would all work out.  I mean, come-on....3.79 for 4 YOGURTS!!  My husband doesn't really NEED this yogurt does he??  OH and then comes, what am I going to make Saturday night for dinner if I don't get those steaks??  I wanted something special.

For a second fear crept in, could I do this??  But then I felt a gentle reminder that I CAN do this and that He will give me the strength to do it!  I'm not a quitter!!

I then realized if I put Jason's yogurts back that I really should put my coffee creamer back.  Yes, I may NEED coffee creamer, but Jason eats a yogurt EVERY morning for breakfast too.  They were the same price so I decided to keep them both....but now what do I put back???

Remember that Stromboli I was buying for convenience??  The one I thought was a great deal??  Well, I slowly pulled it out of my cart and realized that I had ham, cheese, and pepperoni at home.  I had a good recipe for pizza dough that I could make and while it may take a tad longer, at this time that was my best option.  I didn't NEED that Stromboli when I had all the ingredients to make it at home.  It was a heart change, I CAN do this WITH WHAT I HAD BEEN GIVEN.

I scooped my steak back up, got the rest of my items and headed for the checkout.  It may only be the first week, but you know what??  I came out with $1.72 extra for next week and a realization that this can work.

Will I eventually rob Peter to pay Paul??  Will the envelope system work out and let me put some money in savings and help pay off what little debt we do have?  I don't know, but for now what does it hurt?  The hubs and I are going in full force and being intentional with what we spend our money on and that's all I can really ask for!

Valentine's Day decor

Sorry I have not written lately, BUT I have been a tad busy.  I was recently asked to start teaching preschool again and I have been super busy getting my classroom ready.  I am now 3 days in and things are going great!  I have 10 kiddos in my class-which is really the perfect size.


I'm loving getting to know each child and learning about him or her.  They have such great little personalities already and I'm excited to be teaching them.  Ask me in 2 or 3 weeks if I still feel the same.  Never a dull moment working with kids that's for sure!




Last week I decorated my house for Valentine's Day.  You may think that sounds crazy, but I love to decorate and I have a good excuse.  Years ago my Grandma Nolt started giving me her old Valentines from when she was a kid. 

The Valentine with the little boy holding the flowers with the girl was one of my Great Aunt Anna Mary Martin's Valentines

Now, I don't know about you, but I don't have any of the Valentine's I received as a kid.  My grandma, on the other hand, has a ton.  She was raised in an era that you saved everything; so here it is 60+ years later and she still has them.









So about 15 years ago she started letting me pick a Valentine to keep.  I was able to pick whichever Valentine I wanted but I was only able to pick 1 per year.  I cherished these Valentines because they are so neat to look at and so vintage.




















I realized years later that some were even HER Aunt Anna Mary's Valentines so that made them even more special.  These Valentines range from about 60-90 years old!!









I have proudly been displaying them in my house for many years, adding the new one each year.  They make me think of her when I look at them and I am so glad that she has kept them.

Do you decorate for Valentine's Day??  Do you have any of your Valentine's from when you were a kid??