It's a Wonderful Life

FREE vases from the VaseStore on Savemore.com!

2011-08-24T12:01:00.003-04:00

If you're new at SaveMore.com you get a $10 credit for signing up! Today's SaveMore deal is 2 unbreakable expandable vases from the Vase Store for $6! ($12 value + FREE shipping!) That means 2 vases for FREE! Better hurry, this deal ends today! :)

Trip to Niagra Falls!

2011-08-05T18:32:00.006-04:00

Last weekend we took a trip with the quartet to Canada. On our way we stopped at Niagara Falls! Here are some of the pictures of the falls:

My favorite part were the caramel apples! They looked SO yummy. But I only looked and didn't taste.... :(
On our way back home Sunday night, we took a quick stop to see the fireworks and light show on the falls! We drove in just as the fireworks were going off. But once we got to the falls and saw the colors, it was amazing! The picture doesn't do it justice.

The lights behind Lincoln and me.This trip was a lot of fun. I don't have a pictures of Joe bc he usually the one with the camera! (thanks babe!)

Fabulous Nails Shields FREE!!!! EXPIRED!!!

2011-07-28T18:38:00.006-04:00

DEAL IS OVER!

I'm loving Save More and all the free deals, or close to free that I've been getting!

Right now you can get one set of Fabulous Nails Shields for $6 + free shipping. If you're a new member, for signing up you will get a $10 credit put onto your account! Which will make this deal FREE!!!!

Fabulous Nails Decorative Nail Shields come in all sorts of fun styles and are designed to last up to 2 weeks on fingers or 6 weeks on toes. So sign up now!!!

Here some other items I bought for free couple weeks ago! Savemore.com has a variety of sales each week!

NailFraud.com

Cellpig.com

Summer happenings

2011-07-26T10:29:00.006-04:00

I have the itch to blog again. It's just so hard for me to fully commit to something like this. It takes time sit down and type out a few words. And time always seems to slip by.
Summer is over half way through and it's been a busy one to say the least! (and HOT!) We started our summer Memorial weekend with a trip to Ft. Collins, Colorado for my brother in-law's wedding. It was a very quick trip, but wonderful at the same time to see good friends and family!

Two weeks later we flew out again back to my home town, Lakewood, WI for my sister's wedding! We stayed for a week to help out and party with friends! I enjoy my stays in Lakewood so much. I miss home a lot and wish I could go back more often!

After our Wisconsin trip, the quartet that Joe travels for started up into full gear for the summer and they've been traveling almost every weekend. I've been able to go on most trips, but take breaks every few weekends. They are EXHAUSTING!!! and it takes the rest of the week to catch up on rest! But quartet trips are always fun and Lincoln loves to ride the bus whenever he gets the chance! (sleep is not an option in his mind though when he's on the bus....arrggg) This weekend we will be taking a quick trip to Canada. This will be my first time visiting Niagara Falls and I'm looking forward to it!
With everything else going on, I've been feeling the lack of fellowship with young moms/couples that we would find in a local church. I've visited a few churches in the area and I think I've found one I would enjoy to get to know. It's just so hard to visit or get to know anyone when we are gone every weekend. I'm hoping to visit the church on Wednesdays to start getting to know folks.
Added to the mix of normal life, our family have heavy hearts at this time as we are getting ready for Joe's grandfather to pass away. He's in Michigan with Grandma and Joe's parents, but they had to put him in a nursing home recently. I'm not sure how much time they've given him, but preparations are being made. As it would be nice to go back to Michigan, the circumstances won't be enjoyable. But at least we can be happy for grandpa as he's getting ready to be with the Lord. Another thing that's heavy on my heart is my family back home. My dad's the pastor of a small church and they are dealing with some things with a few individuals. It's encouraging to hear how the body came together to lift up these individuals in prayer, but I know it's taken a toll on my parents as they counsel, pray, endure sleepless nights...I thank God for my family and the parents he's given me!
So back to my blog....I've been slacking a little bit with the couponing, and trying to get back on it. I've been happy with some recent CVS trips. I just can't get the grocery deals like others and that's frustrating....haha.... But I know I've saved us money and that's nice to think about!

Lincoln is growing and is an active 2.5 yr. old! His favorite super hero is still Iron Man! He loves his friend/babysitter Elise which he calls, "my awheese!" She helps out a lot on quartet trips by keeping Lincoln busy!
Lincoln can now sing the theme song to Wonder Pets, and sing his ABC's. He loves to sing and play daddy's piano.
Potty training failed horribly as we had a tragic scare at the airport when the toilet flushed while he was sitting on it. I really need to get back at it but have been lazy and with trips every weekend it seems that we have to start all over again. Right now I can't even get him to sit. I'm up for any ideas that might help. He was doing so well....

Joe and I celebrated our fourth year of marriage this month! We went and spent time downtown, ate at one of my favorite restaurants, and went to Transformers 3! It's kinda funny because we went to Transformers on our honeymoon! It's been a wonderful 4 yrs of marriage and am looking forward to many more! :)

Well there's my update. I really need to try to update more often and show some of my coupon deals! It's fun showing off deals I've found! Hehe! :)

3/22 CVS trip: 83% savings, FREE Always liners!!!

2011-03-22T20:40:00.003-04:00

This week's worth of stuff I bought is: $72.63
Total oop: $12.47
Savings of: 83%!!!
Got back 7.50 in ecb, that's like paying $4.97, or savings of 93%!!!

Too tired today to do the transactions. But I did two. First one was just the Cobroxin stuff, used my 10ecb from last week, and I used the 18.99 ecb to help pay for the rest of the stuff. I found Kotex and Always products on clearance. Used $1.50/2 Kotex printable (not available anymore), and $1/1 any Always (P&G home mailer) The lite liners were $0.99, so $1/1 makes it FREE!!! I spent a whopping $0.80 for 4 packages of liners and pads!!! $0.20 each!
I had to get a rain check for the Allegra 5ct box...hopefully I'll get that before my Q expires!
I'll be gone for the next to Sundays as I'm leaving for Florida. So no CVS trips for me....I'm still debating either I should bring my coupons on our vacation! haha...no really...should I?

3/13 CVS trip: savings of 84%! And FREE Clairol Nice 'n' Easy!!!

2011-03-13T18:53:00.004-04:00

I was really happy with my CVS trip this week! The only bummer was that the CVS here didn't sell the Irish Spring deodorant, or the trial size of Theraflu. But no worries, didn't mess up my trip by any bit! :) I think I'm a sucker for hair dye though. About every 4-6 months I like to switch it up, but I'm set with hair dye for 2-3 years now! If anyone wants to come dye their hair with me, I've got plenty!

Lincoln helping me out in showing you what I got!

Total worth: $95.41
Total oop: $15.52!!!
Savings of 84%
Plus I got 10ECB back. So it's like I paid $5.52, that's savings of 94%!!!!

Transaction #1
3 Clairol Nice 'n' Easy @ $1.99ea. (clearance) used (3) $2/1 (FREE hair color!!!)
*Buy 1 Crest @ $3.49, receive 2.49ecb* (limit 2)
1 Crest toothpaste @ $3.49 used $1/1
1 Crest Glide floss @ $3.49 used $1/1
Used $4.00ecb from last week
Total after coupons and ecb: $1.76
Received 4.98 in ecb for next transaction

Transaction #2
1 Clairol Nice 'n' Easy @ $1.99 used $2/1
*Buy Tena Ultra pads @ $9.99, receive 9.99ecb*
1 Tena Ultra thin pads @ $9.99 used $2.50/1 printable (donate item)
Used $7.98 in ecb (Should have put a Clairol in this transaction as I was over $0.50 in allowance of ecb's. So I lost that $0.50...guess I wasn't being a smart shopper)
Total after coupons and ecb: $0.72
Received 9.99 in ecb for next transaction

Transaction #3
Buy $25 on P&G products, get 10ecb
2 Puffs tissues @ $1.50ea used (2) $0.50/1
1 Charmin Big Rolls @ $10.00 used $1/1
1 Charmin Freshmates flushable wipes @ $2.50
1 Duracell AA 20 pack @ $10.00 used $1/1
Used 9.99 in ecb
Total after coupons and ecb: $13.04
Received $10.00ecb for next weeks trip!

Thanks TheKrazyCouponLady and SouthernSavers for all your hard work! Couldn't have done it without you!

Wal-mart trip. Saved 74%!

2011-03-10T08:40:00.000-05:00

Sorry Facebook friends if you're getting tired of my grocery blogging....hey, I'm a mom, this is my thing....I'll show you how to have a good time......at the grocery store!
I'm always worried my friends might think I'm weird for posting photos of groceries. "She has no life..." Then I see the savings, free stuff, and products I love to use and I got them cheaper than generic, I'm not too worried anymore.... :)
So I made Joe take us to Wal-mart last night after dinner. I don't shop at Wal-mart that much, but with this new coupon policy, and so many free items were popping up on blogs that I read, I thought it'd probably be worth my time to get some things! This week has been a lot of little shopping and no big grocery shopping. I've been proud of myself as last week I was able to stretch our groceries for almost two weeks now! :) (pat myself on the back every time I think of that!) anyways....
Some items I bought weren't as cheap as most blogs were reporting them, but with the overage from other items, and high value coupons, still good deals!

The best thing I found, was the Secret deodorants with the bonus clinical pack. They were marked down to $2.50 from $4.22! I even saw some marked down to $2!!! But those were already taken. So I had (2) $1/1 any Secret product to make it $1.50 for two deodorants! That's $0.75ea!!! The Shout, Tide, and other Secret Clinical deodorants were all free plus overage after coupons.
I LOVED the Febreeze with Gain, never tried it, so I used a $1/1. It made it only $0.97 for that little thing, which isn't that good of a deal....considering I got all the other travel stuff free, but I loved the smell, just had to get at least one! :)
Total worth: $24.92
Total oop: $6.42
Saved: $18.50
Savings of: 74%
So, now I'm looking forward to doing laundry when we go to Florida for a week at the end of the month!!! (and having nice smelling armpits too!! hehe!) :)

Potty training update

2011-03-09T23:23:00.004-05:00

The past two days I've stepped up the game plan and decided that both Lincoln and I weren't going to be lazy anymore with the potty business. Yesterday he spent most of the day butt naked. There weren't too many accidents as I pretty much ignored everything else in the house, and was glued to his behind! :) He did well, and even walked into the bathroom willingly telling me he had to go potty. Each time he goes #1 or #2, I give him tiny pieces of candy canes left over from Christmas. (thanks mom and dad V. for the huge stocking full!) He really enjoys that.
Today was kinda an off day as Joe spent most of the day home. I wasn't able to keep an always watching eye on Lincoln, so we tried wearing shorts with nothing under neath. (Lincoln did...he wore shorts with nothing....) : | We had some accidents, but Lincoln was nice enough to help me clean the mess! After nap time, I didn't get a chance to get to the diaper in time, so he did take the opportunity to put it to good use by filling it...
He was a little more reluctant to go potty today, but when we were out at a restaurant tonight, he announced that he had to go potty! (Diaper on at the time) Daddy took the kiddo to the restroom, the kiddo was dry, and he even went potty in the public restroom! We even hung out at Wal-mart for awhile and when we got home he was still dry!!!! I was so proud of my lil man!

Quick run into Bi-Lo, saved 71%!

2011-03-09T17:31:00.004-05:00

I've been waiting a LONG time for Bi-Lo to restock their Gain dryer sheets! Ever since the $3/1 coupon came out, the shelves have been empty it seems.... NOT TODAY!!! :) I had a rain check for two. :) I wish they made an air freshener with Gain. LOVE IT!!!!
So the dryer sheets were free, dish detergent were free, $0.75 a box for the popcorn, and $0.88 ea for the John Frieda shampoo! The pizza was on sale, but no coupon was used. So I still paid $2.88 ea. Didn't think that was too bad seeing that pizza is ridiculously expensive here.
So, my total oop: $9.28
Total saved: $23.22
Total worth: $ 32.50
Percentage in savings: 71%!
I wanted to hit up some of the free stuff at Wal-mart, but Lincoln was just falling asleep when we were walking into Bi-lo....oh well.....

3/6 CVS trip. Saved 88%!

2011-03-06T12:33:00.004-05:00

Today we spent a sick day home from church. Lincoln woke up as the green booger monster and has had a little cough the last couple days. He's been WAY too active this morning, getting into EVERYTHING!!! I decided to take my weekly CVS trip alone. Too bad it's not a good week at CVS. I would have loved a little extra quiet time as daddy stayed home with the booger monster.
I thought I'd do my CVS buys on my blog now, since my facebook friends can see as well. I've been posting pictures on facebook other past weeks, but Joe says I should start blogging again. So here goes! :)
I don't keep track of what inserts my coupons are from. I just clip them and file. But I do know that all the coupons that I used today were from recent inserts, and maybe one from a magazine. I only (usually) buy products that will give back ECB (Extra Care Bucks) to make that item cheap - free! I roll my ECB every week to make more ECB to make the amount even less. I usually do two transactions so that by the time I use coupons and ECB, I'm only paying $1-2 oop (out of pocket).
Here's my first transaction:
*Glad and Pledge products - 2/$6 Get $4ECB when you purchase $12*
bought:
1 Glade air freshener - $3.00 used $1/1 (coupon from magazine, but in recent insert as well)
2 Glade Fabric and Air - $6.00 used 2 $1/1 (coupon insert)
1 Pledge - $3.00 used $1/1 (coupon insert)
*Revlon Nail, Buy 1 get $3ECB*
1 Revlon Nail - $3.99 (I tried using the $1/1 Revlon coupon, but the computer at the register beeped because it was for color eye stuff, even though the coupon had a picture of nail polish....)
Total: $15.99
after coupons and $10ECB from last week: $2.95
and received $7.00ECB

Transaction 2:
*Revitalens, Buy 1 get $4.00ECB*
1 Revitalens - $7.89 used $3.00/1 (today's coupon insert)
Total:$7.89
after coupons and $4.00ECB from last transaction: $1.36
and received $4.00ECB

Total spent oop: $4.31
Total worth: $35.01
Saved: $30.70
Savings of: 88%!!!
ECB for next trip: $7.00

Thanks for visiting! Please share or give me a link of good deals you found this week! Did anyone see the Aldi produce?! I bought strawberries for $0.99/carton and apples $1.99 a bag! I wanted to get the oranges as well, but I was running around without a cart with my hands already full with milk, eggs, bread, cheese, strawberries, apples...all because I didn't have a quarter and I thought I was just going in for bread, eggs, and cheese! :)

Potty Training....on hold....

2011-03-04T11:22:00.003-05:00

My son seems to have put potty training on hold. He figured out what the main use for the diaper is, and has put it to good use. Even down to telling me to change his wet one, so that he can poop in a dry one. When he tells me he's pooping, or I see signs, I strip him down and place him on the toilet. But for some odd reason since we moved here, he WILL NOT sit on the toilet. It's like something's clicked in his mind and the toilet is not fun anymore, he tells me he can't, and acts scared. But if by some chance poop does go into the toilet, he's excited to flush it, and I reward him with a treat.
How do I make potty time for a 28mo old more enjoyable. We did start kinda early last summer just because he seemed interested. If some of you remember my Facebook status from way back then, I got really good advice from friends, and potty time was going pretty smoothly. (For a 20mo old) I was impressed with the interest he had in the potty business. Even when I was babysitting and he had an older (slightly) friend to look up too, things were coming along.
But ever since we moved into our new home. Everything's stopped. I know there were a couple weeks in there with Christmas, New Years, packing and moving, where I slowed things down. So I know that's a factor.
Plus moving to new surroundings might play into the mess. But is it still too early? Is he a little young to start potty training? Should I go back to full force potty training, or wait till he's more comfortable?
I've heard and read some good techniques, and have implemented some. But what do you, or did you do to make the potty training more enjoyable for you and your child?

Question for moms with toddlers....

2011-02-28T10:57:00.002-05:00

ok....mommies with toddlers, (or older experienced mommies) how do you get your morning shower in your day? Have you switched to night showers, do you try to wake up before the lil one is up, or do you wait till nap time? What is it? I'd like to know.
Here's what I'm dealing with. I don't like night showers. Sleep is too precious to me. And that brings the other dilemma. I'm not a morning person. I hate mornings. I find that I'm a better person during the day if I sleep till the kid is up. I'm not gonna try to exert all that morning energy for a shower unless it's REALLY important. Like church or something....
So. I guess I'm a mid-morning shower person. Around 9 or 10 am is a good time. I feel that I can't really start my day till I shower and freshen up. But what to do with the toddler that's running around with that permanent marker? He's already watched is limit on tv cuz you decided that an hour in bed checking Facebook and email on your phone was a good excuse for "sleeping in." By the time I'm ready to drag myself out of bed, get breakfast and coffee, he's ready for something exciting to happen. So that's when mommy becomes the lifeless jungle gym, trying not to spill the precious coffee. 10:30am rolls around and it's getting late. I know I HAVE to get a shower soon cuz anytime I put it off, someone stops by unexpectedly and I look horrendous. HATE it when that happens. And it's been happening a lot lately.
I remember that his favorite show is on at 10:30. So I decide that another half hour of tv can't hurt much. But because of the wind we are having today, the black outs on the tv aren't keeping my son entertained. So, my shower was interrupted multiple times by a 2 yr. old screaming "mommy, where are you," and pulling back the shower curtain handing me his bath toys. *sigh* another five minute peaceful shower gone....
and what's happening now while I blog? tv is on.....Yes, my tv has become the babysitter. I know i know. "get rid of it, unplug it, turn it off, put it in another room, don't ever turn it on at the beginning of the day..." I've heard it, think it, and that tv stares at me every morning with it's tempting ways.
so I guess that brings up another question. what do you do with the tv?

2011-02-22T15:54:00.005-05:00

Boy it's been a long time since I've signed in to blog. Oh how I've missed it and enjoyed not blogging at the same time. I decided I needed a break. Plus our lives have totally changed in the last couple months, that I couldn't keep up with everything.
Our family has relocated to Greenville, SC due to my husbands job change. He is now working for EuBanks Oil and travels on the weekends singing with the Calvary Quartet. We made the decision right before Christmas and were down here the week of New Years. In between that time, Joe was drawing a HUGE piece for a client, I was babysitting (well...it worked for 2 weeks), we went to Wisconsin for Christmas, had a New Years party at our home, and packed everything we owned in two days. (Couldn't have done it with out Ben and Tiffany!) It was crazy. We were just settling into our lil apartment when we felt that God was calling us to Greenville!
Joe and I love Greenville and appreciate the friends that we have here!! We are renting a two bedroom home that has been updated and remodeled. It's beautiful! We love it! I just wish that we weren't so far away from family. I want them to see our new home...
As for the blog...I'm still trying to decide on what to do, or what it is. Some people mentioned I should blog on couponing.... I love to coupon, I like to blog, but I don't think I'm quite ready to do an extensive couponing blog in my name. I'm not THAT good yet. And I don't think I'll ever be. I'm mostly a mommy and wife. I think that most of my followers understand that. Once I get things rolling and the creative juices start flowing, I'll try to get some giveaways and reviews going. Plus I think that the die hard followers that I have, (like 2) will probably appreciate it more that I'd blog on the mommy stuff! ;) (you know who you are!)
For those who haven't seen my pictures on Facebook, here's some pics of the beautiful house that our friends found for us! :)

Living room

Dining room. (still trying to think of a place for the green chair. love the color..)

Master is the smallest room. Plus the king size bed doesn't help with all the extra large furniture.

Lincoln's room

I don't know where the bathroom pics went, and I need to take pics of the study/studio area. But first I must clean! : /
So that's a quick update on us. I'll try to do so more often. I'd like to get some videos on if I can. If there's anyone following or reading this, let me know what you'd like to see from this blog. Some people tell me to blog on couponing, but let me know if that's what you want. I can start by posting freebies and good deals. Give me some input. Please! :)

While I've been MIA

2010-07-27T23:01:00.006-04:00

It's summer....That's all I've got to say. :)

Along with the fact that we are not living in our trailer anymore, summer days are always busy! We're temporarily stationed with our wonderful giving friends who have offered to share their house while we do the transition from travel trailer to renting/buying. (We'll see how giving they will be after we leave!) ;)

It's been a process but we are getting there. Lord willing we will have the trailer sold and be moving into a home before school season starts! PTL that we sold our oversize truck and downsized into something more affordable! My husband is awesome at buying/selling vehicles! He should be a car's sales man! :)

I'm excited and anxious again. Life keeps throwing us curve balls and I'm praying that the Lord will show us what we should do. If you know of anyone interested in a new/slightly used travel trailer, LET US KNOW!!!

Today we spent a couple hours cleaning it out. I'm not looking forward to the deep cleaning it needs! : / But in order to sell....I GUESS I'LL DO IT!!!!

I'm still couponing! It's coming along and I've gotten the hang of it for the most part! It's so encouraging to see people comment and ask me how I exactly do it. I really don't feel qualified to give people advice on how to use coupons! But check this out! (this made my day! had to brag a lil bit!)
3 bottles of Ivory body wash
2 bottles of Old Spice body wash
1 bottle of Old Spice shampoo and body wash
1 Old Spice Deoderant
1 Lady Speed Stick
4 Crest toothpaste
2 Oral-B tooth brushes
2 Tony's pizzas
1 Tyson grilled beef strips
TOTAL: $2.17!!!!!

So that's been my best so far! The coolest is that Meijer and Kroger are having there 10 for $10 specials this week, and they both double coupons up to $.50!

Anyways...It's been great getting back into the swing of things since I've been gone for nearly 3 1/2 weeks at my parents house. Lincoln and I went to visit my parents for 2 weeks and Joe met us later. It was wonderful being able to visit with family and friends from Lakewood. Here are some pics from our stay there.

My couponing answers

2010-05-13T19:50:00.002-04:00

I've had some people ask me to share with them how I do my couponing. I'm not an expert in any way and am still learning the ropes. My mom could probably tell you more than I could!
But I'm more then happy to lead you to some of the sources where I've learned my way into couponing.

First:
I follow WAY TOO MANY blogs! That's the main thing. I follow WAY TO MANY Facebook fan pages! And I get WAY TOO MANY emails. But in order to find those deals that I could never do on my own, I subscribe, fan, like, what ever, to help save money. These ladies/websites/blogs do their job WONDERFULLY! and can help you save the hassle! Just scroll down and to the left you will find "Other places where I hang out." That is my blog roll and those blogs are some of the best blogs to follow for couponing and finding freebies. Some of my favorites are The Krazy Coupon Lady, Deal Finding Chik, and for the NE Wisconsin people, go to Spend Freely to find some local deals! :) There are just so many to name. Couponmom.com is a GREAT source. It's probably the most basic. She posts the deals of the week for the Super stores and pharmacys, and matches up the coupons for you to use that week. The layout is easy and simple for beginners. Coupons.com is the main source of my online coupons. You can even click on the link from my blog!

Second:
You do have to familiarize yourself with the coupon lingo. All the websites have a coupon 101 page for you to study. It's not hard! Plus if you have a question, they are open to comments.

Thirdly:
Another thing is that it does take some time and effort if you really want to save some $. But once you get into the groove of things, it comes pretty easily. It's so worth the time when you see that receipt with a savings of over 80% at the end of the transaction! You feel as if you could skip like a little school girl right out the store! (ahem) anyways...

My couponing is pretty basic, and yes I'm still learning. I haven't branched out to too many stores yet. I've been hitting up Meijer for the most part. And Target if it's cheap CHEAP!
What I do is buy the Sunday newspaper. You need to look around and see which one has the best coupon insterts. (You'd be suprised at how different the insterts are by region. My mother lives in NE WI and bought a Chicago Tribune and it was LOADED with coupons compaired to the Green Bay Press.) It took me a couple weeks to find the best one. The local paper here in Midland doesn't have the greatest inserts. So the neighbor lady saves those for me and I buy the Detroit paper every Sunday. Ask friends and family to save their inserts if they don't use them.I don't buy multiple papers. Some people buy 6 at a time so that when something goes on sale, with the coupon, it's a great stock up item! I just don't have the space. So 3-4 coupon inserts have been enough for my family.
Once I get a paper I pick up a store ad for that week. I don't really spend much time looking at it because I know my trusty bloggie friends have done their homework. So I click on my blog list or bookmarks on my web browser, or search for (ex.) "Meijer coupon matchups 5/16." I like to use google blog search at the beginning of the week to find some great resources.
These blogger friends will tell you the sales for the week, what coupons to use, and where to find them. I like simplicity and appreciate what these gals have done for us!
That's about it. Like I said, I'm not much of an expert. I just follow some blogs, buy Sunday papers, and TRY to shop once a week with coupons!
If you'd like a much simpler layout on saving with coupons, just read this: Coupon 101: Getting started I've babbled too much!

Feel free to share how you save money with coupons! Come back for more as I will try to post any freebies and deals that I come across! Thanks!

I'm Back (again) So let's PARTY!!!

2010-04-09T13:24:00.008-04:00

It's that time again where 5 Minutes for Mom is hosting the Ultimate Blog Party! This year the party has fallen the week after my birthday, (April 4) and what a great way to celebrate!

Life has been busy for the Everson family these days. I know that some of my readers know who I am, but for the next week I'll be getting lots of new visitors from the blog party. So let me say a few things about myself! (you can read my last years intro here. I had put a little more work into it that year...)

I'm a SAHM of a 1 1/2 yr. old boy who can't get enough of balls, sports, and daddy! He is SUCH a boy! :) Here's a picture of us when we were visiting my parents! He loves the camera!

My husband and I just finished traveling with the Bible Revival Team where we were traveling every week to a new church ministering in music and Revival Meetings. Our house is a travel trailer that will hopefully some day become our vacation trailer as we are in the process of looking for a more stable house to live in permanently. We traveled for two years and just moved to Midland, Michigan. My husband started working the day we drove into town (PTL!) with a home improvement business, and I'm currently looking for a babysitting job.

I enjoy couponing and saving money so that one day I can have the stock-up pantry of my dreams when we do move into a house!

I've been away from my blog just because life has been hectic as we just moved into town, I left for a week to see my parents in Wisconsin, searching for coupons(!), and birthday celebrations and Easter also took a big chunk of my time. AND a 1 1/2 year old can do that too! :)

Us (brother on top of the propeller and sister on the right. Mom and dad were with us too!) in Mackinaw City for my birthday!

But I hope that this UBP will help inspire me to get back to blogging! Now that I'm not moving from state to state and won't have to worry about having internet or not, I should be more committed!

Thanks for stopping by! Please come again! I will be posting more deals that I find and please share if you find something that ought to be shared! :) Now off to do some blog hopping!
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There's so many prizes to be won at the party! Here's a list of some of my top favorites!!!

40- One winner will receive a 3 day 2 night stay from Holiday Inn Main Gate East in Kissimmee, FL!

72 – Your Shape for Nintendo Wii

96 – A laundry prize pack from Mrs. Meyer’s! (by Mama's Laundry Talk)

USC 60 – For one winner a $200 gift certificate for any Wall Slicks vinyl wall decal

USC 3 – A $50.00 Target Gift Card. (from PegsPlay)

113 – $25 Walmart Gift Certificate (from Susan)

32 – $25 Target Gift Card! (from The Frugal Novice)

37 – $20 Visa Gift Card (from Grocery Shop for FREE!)

12 – Two winners will receive a 1 Month Subscription to Netflix. (from 1stopmom)

11 – A $100 gift eCertificate to Restaurant.com

49 – $25 gift card to Starbucks

Or any gift card to any store/shop would make my day!

Whirlwind of life is about to hit!!!

2010-03-09T12:15:00.001-05:00

I don't even know where to start. Or how to begin what's happening. I don't even know my self what's happening. I'm just holding on tight and waiting for the whirlwind to come!

Joe and I thought we were finishing up traveling with Bible Revival at the end of the Spring Tour. Because of last minute changes, and some happenings in Midland, we are planning on moving up to Midland after our performance on March, 21. Houses are selling now for pretty cheap in Midland! But I don't want to just buy one because it's cheap...We've been doing some house shopping online, a good friend has been checking out the houses for us, and sending pics while taking tours at his own risk! :)

Please pray for us if you remember! I feel like every thing's happening so fast! I don't know what's going to happen, but I do know I just need to trust in God.

Right now we do have a trailer to live in, but we'll probably have to sell it if we get a house soon. (And it won't be fun to live in during Michigan winters!) Joe does have a job, praying that they'll pick up some decent work so that we can save up some money! I just got a phone call yesterday from a potential job that won't be anymore. It was ideal because I could keep Lincoln with me while babysitting. So I'm looking and praying for any opportunities that are out there for me to work but keep Lincoln as well.

I guess the main thing that I feel is that this part of my life, the traveling, Bible Revival, meeting new people, GREENVILLE (I'll miss the most!), is coming to an end all too soon! Like I feel as if there's no closure to it. I'll miss some of the traveling and other things about it. But I am excited about Midland. Being settled in one church, being active in that church, hanging out with friends, being near to family, having a place to call home! Ok, now I feel better!

Goodbye travel life. Thanks for the fun and memories!

Where did February go?

2010-03-04T11:20:00.007-05:00

I can't believe that six weeks have come and gone and that we are packing up leaving Wilson, NC. Where did the month of February go? Here's some pictures that I took this past month. I didn't take a whole lot b/c of lack of internet connection, lack of creativity on my part, and lack of camera usage. Joe was always taking it from our house and using it in his studio. Oh well. Here's some from my phone

It snowed here a few times...I thought we were far enough south that we wouldn't see the white stuff. But we did.

My niece Elena turned 7! Pink and yellow bday cake, of course! YUM!

Lincoln checking out the cake!

We went to the mall a few times just to walk around. Lincoln liked the water fountain. He's getting so big. Everyday it amazes me just how big he's getting!

The other day Lincoln fell asleep on a toy and it did this to his head! Little bumps on his forehead! haha! I laughed when I saw his cute lil head all with bed hair and rosy cheeks. So adorable!

He keeps me happy even on sick days.

This past week both Everson families have gotten hit with some type of stomach flu...I'm glad that Lincoln didn't get it too bad. But I was sick in bed for a day and Lincoln tried his best while daddy was gone teaching. He rubbed my head, woke me up at key moments on Sesame Street to tell me what was going on, and gave me kisses!

I wish I had more to tell. Our visit here was wonderful. I appreciate for the people here at Tabernacle allowing us to park here for 6 weeks! We will definitely miss the people here. But I'm ready to start the Spring tour and head up north to see my family! Near the end of our tour we will be in Gillette, WI where some very dear friends of mine are located. So I'm VERY excited about that! Then my sister and my best friend will both be graduating from Northland International University and we will stick around for a week with friends and family in my hometown! So yeah, I'm anxious to get home! Then we are off to start a new chapter in our lives! Seeking where God wants us! It's exciting! :)

Shopping trips

2010-03-02T12:23:00.007-05:00

UPDATE!!! I forgot to add totals of amount paid and total amount saved!!!!
Total spent: $46.65
Total saved: $36.15

I did it! I went shopping with a handful of coupons for the first time! I actually saved money! It did take me a L-O-N-G time to find the items and to make sure I had the right items...Lincoln did a very good job sitting in the cart for so long!
Here's what I did:

Walgreens:
Total: $5.39

Saved: $17.30

(Joe drank his frappuccino before I could take the picture)

When I got home and took this picture I was a little disappointed. I spent all that time LOOKING and this is all I came home with??!!! Then I look at the receipt and think, "I SAVED $17.30???!!! WOW!!!" So that makes me feel a little happy!
I'll have to do a better job at recording where I got all my coupons so that I can share with you. Does anyone have any way they do that? Please share! :)

My favorite items are the Tylenol PM that I got for $0.99! and the Starbucks Frappuccino for $0.25 each!!

I didn't get a picture of my Wal-mart purchase. I was a little more disappointed with that trip. I know it will take time and I will learn how to shop with coupons. But this Wal-mart here in Wilson, NC is confusing to me. I can't find anything and they did not have a lot of the items I was looking for. Another thing was that some of the items weren't on sale like I thought they would be. I know each Wal-mart is a little different with sale items. Oh well. I'm sure I'll get the hang of it once we get settled in Midland. It took me F-O-R-E-V-E-R though!! I'm so glad that Lincoln was content for most of the shopping trip!

Walmart:
Total :$27.61
Saved: $6.00

So as you can see, I didn't save much. I didn't get to use all the coupons that I would have liked...But I'm happy with what I got; it should last us all week. Ham steaks were on sale, so we will be having that probably for two separate meals. (cheezy rice & ham, and maybe a breakfast for dinner thing???) I bought pizza ingredients that will go along with the olives that I bought at Walgreens. Some of the other items were things that I wouldn't normally buy, but I got them for $1 or less with the coupons. Like fruit snacks and Toaster Strudels...

Target:
Total: $13.65
Saved: $12.85

This time I had Joe come with me. It went faster, and he also volunteered to run back to grab the Little Debbie cupcakes b/c I accidentally grabbed Hostess.

The Sobe Life water were free, one package of Oreos were free, the Little Debbie Cupcakes and V8 juice were $.50 each because I did a price match with the flyer from Big Lots and used coupons on both. (next time I'll try to remember where I got the coupons. I'm learning!!) For the diapers I stacked a $2.00 coupon from coupons.com with a $1.50 coupon from Target.com.

I promise to keep track of where I get my coupons from now on. I do most of my printing from coupons.com and Target.com. Plus I follow some great bloggers who do a lot of the work for me! ;)

To get your free package of Oreos, visit the Nabisco Fan page. They reset the coupon to last another day. So hurry! You have till midnight tonight!

So that was my first attempt. How'd I do? I have a long way to go, I know. But it was fun...kinda...in a way...next time maybe Lincoln will stay with daddy! ;)

Swagbucks with a new look!

2010-03-01T22:01:00.004-05:00

(click on the button to go to Swagbucks.com)

Have you ever tried Swagbucks? Well you gotta check it out! Swagbucks just had a birthday this past week and things have changed! You still can win prizes and swagbucks just by searching the Internet as usual! But every thing's double now! WOW!!! I was shocked when I saw how much bucks I received the other day! It made me so happy! :D

Even though I don't get much computer time, every time I do search through Swagbucks, I at least get 5-10 Swag! I haven't been up to date like I should be because I use my phone so much to do my Internet searching. (Swagbucks needs to get a Storm app soon!!!) But look around and check it out for yourself! I have enough now for a gift card. I think I'll get an Amazon gift card so I can buy Breaking Dawn! (Can't wait!!!)

I know some of my friends use Swagbucks to get Starbucks gift cards, music, Barns & Noble cards...your options are endless! Imagine, paying for your Starbucks coffee because all you did was use Swagbucks as your search engine!!!

For those die hard Swaggers, keep a lookout for Swag codes that the Swagger-guy hands out. Through out the day he'll hide them and when you find them....MORE SWAGBUCKS FOR YOU!!! :) It's fun and free!

Start searching through the swidget that I have at the top of my blog, or click 'sign up' to get started! (facebookers need to go to my blog to see!) Or click here. The more friends your refer, the more bucks you get! So get started!

Check that off the list!!!!

2010-02-26T14:29:00.006-05:00

Remember my list at the bottom of this post? It looked something like this:

Finish strong with Bible Revival this Spring...
Ink for printer....
Move to Midland...
Get my coupons and freebies in the mail....
Read more blogs...
PRINT AND SHOP!!!! :)

The Lord blesses above and beyond! Joe has been praying for a certain amount to come in from our tax return. We just want to catch up on our bills. Well, we did more than that! The return was more than we expected and we were able to 1) pay off credit card; 2) pay off medical bills; 3) have both trailer AND truck payments CAUGHT UP(!!!!!); 4) buy this!!! and 5) have extra to set aside!!!!

Even though we are still paying off loans for truck and trailer, it feels SO good to be caught up! We've been praising the Lord all day!

So that's one of the things that was on my mental list, but didn't put it down on my blog. I guess I would put it under the "finish strong" part!

Another thing I want to check off my list is "ink for printer." Well, it still needs ink, but we went out to Wal-mart and bought a new HP Print, Scan, Copy machine.

I had one in college and LOVED it! Plus the ink isn't so expensive! So this one's mine (and Joe's too) while Joe has his art printer for his business!

One more thing I want to say...I had mentioned that our little laptop screen was busted because of a tumble it took when Lincoln yanked on the cord....anyways.... *sigh*....I'm not bitter. Well Joe worked and did some tweaking and now my laptop is usable! The screen doesn't work still, but it's hooked up through the tv and I'm using the tv screen as my monitor. Cool, huh? Except there's more cords. And I'm not mobile...Oh well! :)

So, all these thing aren't REALLY on my list...but I think the Lord knew what REALLY needed to be on my list! Ya know?! I can't wait to start printing and to start saving! Help me keep an eye out for those big deals out there! I'm a newbie, so I'm more than happy to hear what's out there! I am following quite a few blogs as you can see on the left in my blog roll. Some really neat gals out there! Thanks for all the hard work you put into your blogs! :)

Joe's Studio is being featured!

2010-02-25T11:24:00.005-05:00

Joe's Studio is being featured over at We Blog Artists where they do a segment every Tuesday called "Tell All Tuesdays!" Head on over there to see what kind of questions they asked Joe!

Thanks Char and Pam for featuring Joe! And congratulations on your win! Which one of you is going to be the lucky one to keep the Giraffe kisses I wonder?!

Joe's been doing some photo shoots at the skate park recently. Here's a neat shot he took of his friend Lance!

Be sure to check out his blog to see new things each week! He's been working so hard! Some day, we'll have a real studio/office for him to hang his work to sell! :)

Photoshoot with Daddy!

2010-02-20T21:53:00.004-05:00

Joe went out on Saturday and took some pictures of Lincoln while he went exploring around the yard! It was such a nice day! Finally it's starting to warm up and Lincoln can go outside and play!

My goal for this summer....

2010-02-20T00:03:00.007-05:00

I had so much going on in my head last night while I was typing the last post, that I rambled on some more and didn't quite finish because it got pretty late. I haven't been near a real computer for a while and my mind was buzzing. My thoughts were like spaghetti. One thing reminded me of something, then I'd get side tracked...and then side tracked with that...

That's how I feel my blog is. I hope I make sense to who ever reads my blog! I'm learning. Please bear with me as I'm not much of a writer either! I was telling Joe, some day my blog will be something. I think it will be! I'm just going at it very slowly!

Anyways...

Just recently (2 weeks ago) I had a dry spell with twittering as I wasn't feeling well, laptop broke, EVERYONE was going to Blissdom at the Opry Land Hotel...(the coolest/neatest Hotel) I just had to step back and get away from my lil twitter world. It has to happen sometimes.

So I replaced my twitter time with thinking and reading blogs.

Money is REALLY tight, as I'm sure a lot of you are feeling the crunch finances puts on us all; and I was really drawn to these wonderful gals who talk about couponing. I've always been interested, and really want to do this. I feel that this is something I can do to help my family in this time of need! I WANT TO BECOME A COUPON QUEEN!!!! It was SO nice to listen to $5 Dinners at the A Woman Inspired Webinar on how she uses coupons and how she takes on the challenge of making dinner for the family with $5! GOOD wholesome, filling meals!

It's hard though when you travel from state to state. I'm sure it's possible. But when there's a church scheduled for meetings during the week we are so busy everynight. I'd like to have time to do the shopping, be organized and actually ENJOY, not hate saving money let alone the grocery shopping!! (if that makes any sense.) Another thing is that when we are at a church for a week of meetings, they take care of our lunches. So...that's a plus in not having to buy groceries. Each week varies too. So one week I don't have to buy groceries where the next week I will. I also noticed that on the weeks when our lunches were taken care of, we end up eating out for supper. Which I don't like doing a whole lot...

Plus, when I only see my mail every 3 months...(if even) and then I don't even have the money to buy ink for that highly expensive printer...I feel so stuck.

So...with a lot of thinking, reading, and researching during my down time from the laptop and next to nothing twitter, (remember, still have my BB!) here's what's happening:

I created a spiral notebook that is my "Financial Record/coupon" book. Right now I'm keeping track of our finances and receipts of EVERYTHING! Soon, it will also hold my coupons that I'm signing up for online and will be waiting for me at a friends house in Midland, MI! I'm following some awesome blogs that will show me the greatest deals each week. I've been watching, familiarizing myself with them, getting to know the gals, and when the day comes when we move to Midland this spring, I'll be printing away!!!! As for the ink money, I think some of our tax return will help pay for that! :) It just doesn't seem like we can buy it now, but in the long run it would probably SAVE me money to get the stupid ink...ugh...this one is the thorn in the flesh and creating the "stuck" feeling again....gotta get out of that!

OK...on we go!

Goals:
My first and most important goal is to glorify my God in all my actions. Even typing in a blog.
Second is my family. I believe that God has put this burden in me to seek out good deals so that I can help our family survive!
Thridly, maybe I can be of help to others. Maybe I can make someone smile. I know that others have done so for me, so I just want to return the favor.

This blog has started out as a means for me to keep memories for myself. For family members to see what's happening in our lives. It will always be that way. This is a part of my life that I feel I want to add to my blog. Sharing how I've concoured the the world by getting freebies, coupons, and how I fed my family for less! This is part of the creativity in me. I'd like to pour myself in this.

Now...I have to wait...
Finish strong with Bible Revival this Spring
Ink for printer....
Move to Midland...
Get my coupons and freebies in the mail....
Read more blogs...
PRINT AND SHOP!!!! :) (wish me luck!)

If anyone has any tips, help, offers, comments, anything....PLEASE comment or email me!

Twitter-addict!!!

2010-02-19T22:11:00.007-05:00

Follow me @bethanyev

I LOVE twitter! I love the new friends I've made, the new blogs I've found, the mommy connections, and the PARTIES!!! I started tweeting in April of '09 and didn't really understand it at first. (As do most) Plus all I really had was twitterberry on my Blackberry and that didn't help a whole lot. But somewhere I found a friend who introduced me to this whole other world of giveaways. I like giveaways. I've won a few thing through blogging and entering giveaways in the blog sphere. But twitter was so much easier and fun!

Then...it happend! I found #ecowed. (heavenly music) I won my first prize at my second twitter party and it was THE GRAND PRIZE!!! I was hooked! (Sibu lotion is W.O.N.D.E.R.F.U.L!!!! and eco-friendly!)

From then on I found Ubertwitter (which is the greatest BB app for tweeting!) and my winnings have multiplied!!! I get so excited when I win, that I call my mom as soon I can!

Plus the mommies and people on twitter are so friendly and fun to chat with during and after the parties! You never leave the room without a new follower. They are also great encouragers!

Well, why am I telling you all this? I don't mean to post "hey look at me! I win stuff!"

Maybe I can be of an encouragement to those new twitterers, the ones who might be on the fence of trying it. I know I was one once. Don't give up. You might be seeing all these people winning things and it bugs you that you can't keep up. Don't worry. We are there to help you! Don't be afraid to ask! Everyone was a newbie before and I know I didn't learn on my own. It was certain people, people I don't even know outside of Twitter! It's fun and give it a try! I'm glad I did!

Here's a list of my favorite hostess's!
Resourceful Mommy
Mom It Forward
The Online Mom
3 Green Angels
MOMeoCHAT
Consumer Queen
The Coupon Cupboard

There's so much more to choose from!

OWOH giveaway!

2010-02-16T13:59:00.004-05:00

I know I'm late, but don't worry! I have a winner for the OWOH giveaway!

I was surprised at the amount of comments I received! I'm looking forward to looking through the comments and visiting everyone's blogs!

And the winner is!!!!
Alabama-Texasgal
I will be emailing you, lucky gal!

Thanks for participating and please come back again!

Where have I been??

2010-02-16T13:38:00.005-05:00

I am so sorry for not updating this month! Things have been crazy and I've had the worst of luck the last couple of weeks.
If you recall from earlier posts, we are parked at Tabernacle Baptist church in Wilson, NC. During our first week, I had a wonderful time participating at the A Women Inspired Conferences! I learned a lot and met some nice gals and enjoyed listening to the wonderful speakers! So that took up most of my time and decided to use that excuse as to why I didn't post any pictures for the Project 365. I was taking a break... :)
The next week I did not feel well at all. I did something to my back, it did NOT stop raining for a week straight, Flo came to visit, , plus I had this headache that would not go away. So that's my excuse for not posting that week...
By the third week I thought maybe it's time to get out my laptop and post something to tell someone, whoever, that I am alive, I'm still here. But because of the 'nothingness' going on at our house, I had nothing to post about...no pics to post...It's been pretty boring. Joe's been in his make shift 'studio' working, searching for jobs, and looking for contacts, while Lincoln and I are home, playing, eating, and sleeping. That's pretty much it. So I've lost motivation really. And then, with my luck, Lincoln breaks the laptop accidentally. He pulled on the cord that was hanging from the counter top, and down went the laptop. The screen now is shattered inside...bummer. My bad. *sniff*
AND THEN!!!! My blog was hacked. Someone was posting ads and random things. It took a while to figure out the problem, but my wonderful hubby saved my blog! YEAH!!!
So there ya have it. Sorry. I'm back, I think. Just for my sake, I'm going to try and post more and get back to my 365 project. :)

OWOH giveaway

2010-01-24T23:49:00.001-05:00

Don't forget to scroll down to see more posts, as this one post will stay on top for a while! :)

*click on picture to be taken to OWOH*

I'm excited for this year's OWOH event! My mother introduced this 'blog hopping' experience to me last year, and I had a blast! The only difference was that I was attending OWOH through my husband's blog. This year, I'm here meeting you from my own lil place!

If you're new here, WELCOME! (If you already know me, you can skip this part!) Take a look around, don't be shy! Grab a cup of coffee (or tea) and make yourself at home! It won't take you long to notice that I blog quite a bit about my son, Lincoln! He's a very active 14-almost 15 month old! My little family travels with an Evangelistic team called Bible Revival. We've been on the road full time for almost two years now with our 'little house on wheels!' Right now we are in Wilson, NC. At the end of this spring tour, we are excited to see where God leads us next as we are branching out on our own and won't be traveling with Bible Revival.

That's just a little bit about me...but now on to the good stuff!

Have you noticed that my husband is an artist? :) Here's a drawing of my son when he was just a few months old! (All portraits are done in pencil.)

And here's one of my grandpa! Check out the detail!(Please visit Joe's Studio or his website to see his work and services that he provides!)

For my giveaway, the winner will receive a ONE SUBJECT, 9X12, personal portrait of there choice. (Loved one, pet, hey...why not yourself?!) That's pretty generous!

Giveaway ends February 14th, 12:00am EST. I'll draw the winner from random.org and will announce and contact the winner on February 15th. The winner will need to email me a picture that they would like Joe to draw. Easy right?! But wait...There's more!!! :)

*Remember*

*To enter, must leave a comment (ONE comment per person...or read on for an extra entry!)
*Make sure there's a way for me to contact you. (email, blog, twitter...)
*All my FACEBOOK friends are invited!!!! I'll just add your comments into my blog comments at the end of the contest! (*I'll even let you comment on Facebook AND blogger! That's ONE comment on Facebook, and ONE comment on blogger...That's double entries!!! Get going!)
*The winner has 48 hrs to respond. If I don't hear from them, I will choose a new winner!

Good Luck! and Happy blogging! :) OH! and send some comment love to Joe! He'd like that!

(to my lovely facebook pals...you really need to visit my blog. This facebook thing just doesn't do it justice...)

365-21

2010-01-24T22:08:00.001-05:00

Cousins sharing some love!

365-20

2010-01-23T21:45:00.000-05:00

Random things on the road today...

A big ah....ahem...butt...
And a church for truckers!
That was my day... :)
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

365-19 Few of my favorite things

2010-01-23T01:06:00.007-05:00

I've been at a lost on what I should capture today. So I went around the house and picked out some things that I like!

Candles!

My Ghirardelli mix from mom for Christmas!
Lotion
My "B" pearl thing from mom, again! :)
Dream Angels "Heavenly" and chap stick
His "CHEESE" grin :)
And those baby blue eyes!

365-18

2010-01-22T00:34:00.000-05:00

I know you all already saw this...but here is Joe's piece that he calls 'Peekaboo'. The original is hanging at Spill The Beans and is for sale! I'm so proud of my hubby and thrilled to see at how God's using his talents to help/encourage others! Way to go hun!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

365-17

2010-01-20T18:25:00.004-05:00

Visit Joe's Studio! His website is finished and looking great!

Yesterday we went to Downtown Greenville and hung this piece in Spill The Beans! If you ever get a chance to visit, check out this sweet coffee shop on Main St. Thanks Abram and Sarah for letting us show off Joe's artwork!

I just love downtown and think that it would be awesome to live in the area! One of Joe's favorite place to visit is Jared Emerson's studio in Artist Row. Joe kind of knew him as they were kids, but within the last year we've gotten to know him better!

Here's Joe and Jared (Joe on the right!) in front of a piece that Jared did live. It's a picture of Christ with thorns on his head. Jared's been a huge inspiration to Joe to get started on his art business!

365-16

2010-01-19T06:54:00.001-05:00

Please check out my recent post for a special announcement!

Organizing the pantry!!!! (du du duunnnnn...)

I'm taking a step of faith and letting you all see my messing pantry. But it was about time for me to get in there and reorganize the mess. For the last couple trips we've made, stuff was falling out, cereal everywhere, sugar spilled, and lots of frustration when I had to look for something...

Before:Everything thrown around...Lincoln decided to help and eat some of the left over cereal! Which was a bad idea! I turn around to throw something away, and Lincoln thought it'd be cool to DUMP the entire box of chex onto the floor! (I was seriously not happy when I took this shot!)

After:
I'm kinda disappointed that the before and after pics look the same. I'm telling the truth, I DID organize this closet! It looks MUCH better in person. :) I took everything out and even wiped it down top to bottom!
I didn't go out and buy special containers like I should have. But everything IS more organized and I did get rid of lots of things that were outdated. I even found some extra things to put into the Haitian pantry that the church in Ducan, GA was putting together.
I can find things a lot easier and nothing fell out today when we drove back to Greenville!

New happenings {special announcement!}

2010-01-19T00:24:00.007-05:00

No! I'm not pregnant!!!

Joe's Studio is getting a make over, so make sure to stop by to check it out! We are testing out new layouts for his website and would appreciate any ideas or comments as to how it looks! If you don't know my husband yet, please check out his blog here. He is a very (handsome) talented artist who works mostly with pencil. He is capable of using charcoal, colored pencil, and water color. Photography on the side as well! Our dream is to someday own an art studio where he can display and sell his work!
For the last couple months we've been selling prints of his work in the churches we've come in contact as we travel with the Bible Revival Team. Through this, we've seen God open doors and opportunities that we've hadn't had elsewhere! Joe's been so encouraged to see his artwork used as a way of a ministry to people!

~New NEWS~
Within the last week, a possible opportunity(s) has approached us and we are seeking wisdom and advice as to what/where we should go. We are still traveling for Bible Revival until the end of the spring tour, but will need to start looking for another source of income after our last week of meetings, like last summer. The only thing different is that we won't be joining back with the traveling team in the fall. *sniff* The Joe Everson family will no longer be traveling full time with Bible Revival.

It's sad and exciting. Bittersweet. We will miss Ben and Amanda and the kids. But at the same time, we are looking forward to where God is leading both families!

~Back to the opportunities approaching~ Joe's Studio is expanding! Right now we are seeking any leads in the Greenville, SC area. We are open to anything. From teaching in a school, to giving lessons one on one. We are looking into Co-op classes with homeschoolers in Greenville, or Wilson, NC. If you know of any leads, ideas, or even interested in his work, please contact us! We'd also appreciate your prayers as we are looking for work and a potential place to call our permanent home!

I don't like heading into the unknown, and am trying to give it all to the Lord and trust him with our future. Money is tight and work is hard to find. But the Lord knows!

365-15

2010-01-18T12:58:00.001-05:00

The many faces of breakfast!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Happy Blog-versary to...

2010-01-17T20:32:00.001-05:00

TO ME!!! I just noticed that my first entry on this blog was 3 years ago today! My has time changed! And things are about to change for us in the next couple of months! We are praying for the Lord's guidance and wisdom in the decisions we need to make. I ask that you pray with us and also that the Lord would just give me peace about everything. As the time gets nearer, I will let you all know what happens!

As for the blog-versary, nothing special going on here! (sorry. 3 years isn't anything to celebrate, really. Maybe 5!) I'm just happy to be blogging and meeting such wonderful people! I'm looking forward to the OWOH next week! And the AWI conference! (*brag* I won a ticket!!!) I'm sure I'll meet even more wonderful people at both of those events! I'm So looking forward to the Conference! (click on the button on the upper left. As for my FB veiwers, you need to go to my Blog to view it.) My mom has attended a few and told me that this month's is a good one! She said that she would pay for mine but first pointed out some blogs that were giving away some tickets! What's really cool is that both of us won so we are attending free ride! How awesome is that?! :)

Tomorrow we head back to Greenville for a week. Its starting to feel more like 'home' some how. But nothing can ever compete with Wisconsin. Well...if there's three feet of snow and sub zero temps for more than 3 months, I guess I'll take Greenville!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

365-14

2010-01-17T18:16:00.005-05:00

The weather was WONDERFUL on Friday...of course. We had to leave and travel the afternoon while the sun was out! While Joe was getting the trailer hooked up, Lincoln did some exploring! This is his first time out on his own since he started walking!

After his nap, we showed up in Ducan, GA! Lincoln's ready!

365-13

2010-01-16T15:20:00.000-05:00

Lincoln playing at McDonalds!
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365-12 Never without his Paci!

2010-01-15T06:21:00.001-05:00

I was just looking through baby pictures of Lincoln and found this one! Look how big his paci is(!) was my first thought!!! SOO CUTE! :)

Lincoln still has the same set of paci's from his baby days. I call them his 'baby paci's'. I've gotten him bigger ones, but he still prefers these!

365-11

2010-01-14T08:30:00.001-05:00

Catching Sundust!

Lincoln likes to lay on the blankets when I'm trying to make the bed in the morning. I got some neat shots of him looking at the dust floatys in the air! Natural lighting is always so fun!
Here's the originals before editing in Picnik.
He'll be a model some day!

Crock-pot cooking and 365-10

2010-01-13T13:48:00.005-05:00

Some days I get the urge to create something scrumptious and I get all excited when all the ingredients come together, the smells make my mouth water, waiting patiently to taste that first bite of my new creation!!! But all too many times it ends in FAILURE!

I can cook somethings. Well...(My hubby can tell you what meals I use and abuse over and over!)
I love to eat...
My favorite appliance is the Crock-pot...

So I SHOULD be able to make new things every now and then, right?!

Looks pretty easy, don't you think?

Here's how mine turned out...I Call it:
SLOPPY CHICKEN MUSH...

I did do some things differently...maybe you can tell me where I went wrong...

1. I used cream of mushroom when it called for cream of chicken (why would that matter? And I couldn't find cream of chick. at Aldi)

2. Aldi didn't have the wild rice instant stuff I was looking for. So I just used chicken flavored instant rice... (I think I'm noticing a pattern here. I'll blame Aldi for my bad cooking!)

3. I used baby carrots instead of 4 regular carrots. :)

4. I cooked it on low for most of the time, and then turned it to high for the last hour...(that seemed to burn the sides a little...)

5. Right before I served it, I tore up the chicken into bite size pieces... It looked a mess anyways...why not give it some more character?!

It came out real sticky and thick. Almost gravy like. Nothing like the picture in the cookbook. No Creamy Chicken here. I think something was messed up with the instant rice packet/seasoning, where I probably should have used more water.
The picture that you see here, is lunch the next day. So it got thicker the older it was! Joe said it was good. (which means...it's ok...) I thought it tasted fine. Lincoln ate his plate...But it just doesn't look the greatest! And that's how most of my first-time-attempt meals turn out.

Today I'll blame Aldi and a crock-pot that cooks a little too hot! :)

I'm NOT gonna tell you about my Indian Fry Bread story...(whaaahahaha) :(

365 - days 8 & 9!

2010-01-12T10:31:00.003-05:00

Since I was in the blogging mood, I thought of posting some pics from the last two days. I'll try this everyday this week since I don't know what the weekend's going to look like. We will be heading towards Atlanta, GA for our next performance with the Bible Revival Team.

I've been having lots of fun blog hopping and looking at everyone's pictures! There are so many mommy photographers and I'm a little jealous at how nice there pics turn out! So today I thought to be a little creative and tried some photo editing in Picnik!

Day 8Lincoln wanted to try some of the soda like daddy!

Day 9I LOVE my morning coffee! Gotta have it with my flavored creamer!

365 days 1-7

2010-01-11T15:57:00.009-05:00

I know I'm late...I didn't have access to internet over the weekend. Sorry mom! (She was excited about this!) :) So here's my first entry for Project 365 where I will attempt to take a photo/photos everyday this year!

Day 1

Lincoln is no longer my little baby boy anymore... He has turned into a boy. The past few weeks his face has grown and it doesn't look so baby'ish. *sniff* It's kinda sad...

Day 2I was going through our finances and budget and you know that sick feeling in your gut..."how are we going to make it this month?" (Seems to come up everything month at some point, doesn't it?) Then this verse popped into my head. (sorry, bad shot) "
"With man this is IMPOSSIBLE, but with God all things are POSSIBLE!" Matt. 19:36
So I have this sticky note in my day planner to remind me that everything is possible with God!

Day 3I love sneaking in a few shots of Lincoln sleeping. He's always so peaceful and cute looking! During nap time, I like to get some reading done! Right now, I'm on the second book in the Twilight Saga! LOVE IT!!! Thanks mom! :) (She's giving away a book on her blog...you should check it out!)
Day 4My house feels empty now that the Christmas decorations are gone. I love the lights, smells, and tastes of Christmas. Here's what's leftover from Christmas!

Day 5Lincoln's on this new kick of taking stuff from where they belong and finding a new place for them. Here he has canned goods in his Lego box. And you can see the helicopter in the background with a block that doesn't fit!

Day 6*BEFORE*
This year, I've decided to dedicate each week to a different part of the house that needs organizing! This week was Lincoln's toys! His little "toy box" (a diaper box) was over flowing after birthday and Christmas presents! It was time to upgrade!
(Lincoln telling me: "mommy, it's time for a new toy box!")

*AFTER*
We bought a new container and got rid of that ugly diaper box! YEAH for organizing! It looks better! And Lincoln has all his toys and books in the drawers where he still has easy access! (YES...he's playing with a fly swatter...don't worry. IT'S CLEAN!)

Day 7
Sunday was the big game. Even though the Packers didn't win...*sniff* Lincoln still looked pretty cute in his jersey! :)
I asked him to smile and this is the shot I got! HA! What a face!"GO!"

Hope my week was interesting enough for you! It was fun trying to find new things and new ways to take pictures. Now onto a new week!

365 Project

2010-01-05T14:40:00.005-05:00

I am participating in the 2010 Mommytography 365 Project! For this year long project I will be posting an image a day, to get me out shooting, using my camera and learning new things with it daily. Anyone interested in photography can join, no need to be a Mommytographer. We have teens to adults, male and female, as well as people from all over the world. Come join the fun!

I won't be able to post my pictures everyday, like some, but I am planning on taking pictures throughout the week and doing one big post at the end of the week. This should help me pick up that camera that's been collecting dust and give me a reason why I should use it. I'm not a photographer at all. I'll try not to bore you all. But with warning, I'll just let you know that my son will probably show up a lot! I've missed out on the last couple months because I've been lost with no idea on what to shoot. I've been looking back at pictures that I've taken when he was 2-4months and miss those days. Right now I don't have much to show, so this should help! :)

I'm excited and hope you too will participate! So pick up that camera and start shooting! (now where are the camera batteries?!)

Christmas '09

2010-01-04T19:47:00.004-05:00

Christmas Morning!

He loves his puppy from Grandma and Grandpa Everson!

Here we are in 2010. How weird is that? 2009 went by SO fast! I can't believe that Christmas has come and gone, New Year's is over, and stores are getting ready for Valentine's Day...

~Little bit about our Christmas~
We spent Christmas as a family in Greenville, SC and then went to my Aunt and Uncle's in Spartanburg for lunch. We even had the chance to open presents with my family back in Wisconsin over Skype Christmas Morning!

Lincoln playing with his tool set from daddy!

Opening presents with daddy

~Holidays and sickies~
Holidays don't seem to do well for my body. I was sick for Thanksgiving, and then had a migraine Christmas Eve, and have been sick with a head cold since New Year's Eve. I don't think I'm stressed out during the holidays, since I'm not the one usually entertaining and having to worry about all that stuff. But this time of year is a usual for me to getting sick.

Because of the holidays and sickies, I've gotten behind on things and hope to get on the ball. Today I spent the afternoon taking the Christmas decor down. Now I have an empty hole and it looks like something's missing.

While Lincoln and I were sick, we had our share of cable tv, cartoons, movies, with tissues surrounding us on the bed. I did enjoy reading my new books that I got from mom for Christmas! :)
We're also having fun with the Snow's. I really do hope that we aren't over staying our stay. There's just so much Wii and leftovers there! :) And Lincoln likes to chase Jack! (the cat)

I better finish up this post! Now it's time for a game of CLUE with the Snow kids!

Recent happenings

2009-11-28T12:37:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone had a relaxing and enjoyable Thanksgiving this year! It's nice to take the time and reflect on the many blessings that God has given us. I'm thankful for Godly friends and family members in my life! They all have been an huge encouragement over the years!
I praise the Lord for safety and direction. Last week we were planning on having Thanksgiving in Greenville, SC. But with a job opening for Joe, a road block on the highway in NC, and a mild November, we decided to stay in Midland and have Thanksgiving with Joe's family.
We're thankful that we have this extra time here in Midland and always enjoy our time with friends! But we do want to keep my BIL and his family in our prayers. As they were heading to Alabama for the holidays, they ran into some trouble with their fifth wheel and were stranded in Ohio for the rest of the weekend. God has a purpose for everything and we always try to seek what God's will is for us in any situation. Very thankful that their family is safe!
Next week we start up our Christmas tour in the south. We are all excited about being down south! I will try to keep an update on where we are so that if we are in your area, you can come check us out! :)
I've been bad again and I'm not a photographer of any sorts. I wish I did take pictures. My kids aren't going to have any pics of themselves and will never know what they looked like when their little. I took a few of Lincoln this past week and thought I should share with you! Since I sending this from my phone, I don't know what order they will be. Please bear with me!
Whenever we go to the mall, its a family outing. Joe and I enjoy watching Lincoln have the time of his life in the rental strollers!
One night when Joe was finishing with work, the family that hired him invited us to have supper at their house. So the pic with Lincoln having a flower headband is bc of three lil girls having a lil boy for a playmate. Lincoln had a blast playing with pink balls and musical instruments...and headband flowers!
The other pic is just lunch time and he was imitating me saying "cheese"!
Have a great weekend!

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Lincoln's first Birthday!

2009-11-11T15:34:00.008-05:00

Finally I'm able to update you all on the events in our lives. I haven't been able to sit down and upload my pics and type out a post. I've missed my blogging friends and am looking forward to keeping up with you all when we settle down in Greenville for a bit.

We just finished practice, Lincoln's down for a nap, so here I am in Pastor's office with my lil computer and I'm using what precious time I have to share! Hope these photos come through for me! (connection is lil slow...)

Right now we are in Harrisville, MI with a week of meetings. This is the third time in a year that the team has been here. We always enjoy our stay and love seeing people that we've gotten to know over the year.

Last week we got a little break and celebrated Lincoln's birthday in our home-town, Midland, MI. We celebrated on the 31st at Grandma and Grandpa Ortega's house with his cousins, aunts and uncles, and grandparents/GREAT grandparents!

(Lincoln with Grandpa and Grandma Everson)
Lincoln enjoyed all his gifts from everyone! But for sake of time, I have to show the gift that Mommy and Daddy got him! :) (sorry everyone...)

On the 3rd, we celebrated his REAL birthday at Buffalo Wild Wings with cake! He really liked that! :)

Trying it...
Thinking about it...
YEP! It's good! :)

After this week of meetings, we go back to Midland and get another lil break before the big trip down to Greenville, SC for Thanksgiving! There we will be with the Snow family! Joe and I are ready to head south for the winter, but will miss family very much over the holidays.

It's hard to believe that Christmas is creeping up on us and that we as a team are going through our Christmas numbers and program. Right now I can hear Joe in the other room recording a peice that he's working on. Gets a little annoying at times... : \

I've spent too much time already twiddling with the pics and stuff. I should go. Keep me updated on what's to come in the blog world this holiday! Looking forward to connecting with everyone again! Until then, Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Then and Now

2009-11-07T10:15:00.000-05:00

On November 3, 2008 at 2:55pm my life completely changed. I became a mommy. This little person became apart of my life and now has me wrapped around his little finger!
Today he's not so little and doens't need mommy to do everything for him. Only sometimes.
He's adventurous, outgoing, not very shy, and rides a four wheeler in our little house by himself! He enjoys meal time, sitting in daddy's before nap time, reading books, and finding every little thing he's not supposed to have.
I thank God for allowing us to raise Lincoln Joseph.
I wish I was more faithful to my blog so that you all can see how much he's grown and where we've been. I will try harder!
Happy birthday buddy! I love you and can't wait to see how much you grow this next year! But you'll always be my lil man!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

more pics from our trip to Wisconsin

2009-10-17T15:25:00.004-04:00

Mom sent me some more pictures of our stay in Wisconsin... :)

Good times!

2009-10-16T23:30:00.007-04:00

Quick note before I get to bed...
I had a WONDERFUL time in Wisconsin with my family and Joe's family! But I am HORRIBLE at taking pictures! (sigh...I don't take ANY!)

We parked our lil house in the Everson's driveway for 2 weeks in Northern Wisconsin near campus. It was nice to visit campus and see old friends and meet up with my brother and sister. It got VERY cold really fast. I grew up in the North, but I never liked the cold... : / I enjoyed the times we had with Joe's family as we had 2 weeks off of traveling and stayed at their house during that time. It was very relaxing! :)

My parents met us on campus to have an early celebration for Lincoln's first birthday. (just a month early) I had to steal these pics from my mom's facebook! :)

The Birthday Boy!

Grandpa giving Lincoln a taste of the YUMMY cake! (Thanks Mr. Gaugler!) :)

Opening gifts from Grandma and Grandpa with mommy and Grandpa!

Grandma made a special gift! She put familiar faces under the puzzle peices so that Lincoln will remember his Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Brooke, and Uncle Brennan! So cute!

Lincoln had other ideas what he should do with the puzzle peices!

More gift opening with Grandpa!

Sitting back and talking on Aunt Brooke's phone during supper.

Grandpa lets him drive on campus...

Later that week, we took the hour trip down to my hometown to stay at my parent's house for a couple days. I decieded that we needed to put together a HUGE party for the Packer/Viking game! I invited my friends and my sister came from school to make the big event! Lincoln even had a handful of grandparents attend! :) Not sure if they were there for the game or what... But even though the game didn't turn out as we would have liked, we still had fun! I wore my Brett jersey from his Packer days...But I DID NOT cheer for him.

The Friday before we left, a bunch of our friends from the college, siblings, and their friends, went out bowling. I miss those days of young college bliss! It was fun, but I was in the mothering mood and Lincoln was running a low fever. He did so well in his stroller watching everyone bowl and did not complain one bit!

We left for Escanaba, MI and did Revival America in the Sunday Evening service. From there we were off to Pittsford, MI where we had a short week of meetings. All through this, both Everson family's on the BRM team were sick. I think I got through it without getting the ruff end of it. But poor Joe and Lincoln were up countless times b/c of trouble breathing due to congestion. (and that takes a toll on mommy)

We just got in at the church in Williamstown, WV and will be doing a FULL week of meetings here. Hopefully we are all recovered from all our sickies.

It's been an exhausting couple weeks...ready to head down south. :) But now I need to go to bed. *Night!*

Lincoln looking out

2009-09-26T13:59:00.001-04:00

Right now we are on our way to Wisconsin to Joe's parents. It should be a 6-7hour ride. Not too bad.

This past week we had some visitors and Lincoln enjoyed his view outside our front door!

I should be back with pictures of our week. My parents are meeting us at NIU with the rest of the family members (my siblings) to have an early birthday celebration for Lincoln! I'm so excited! Can't wait!

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Fun Fall!!!

2009-09-22T17:42:00.009-04:00

Let's see...where do I start?! Since the VCY Rally in Milwaukee, it's been a whirlwind of sorts! The Rally was awesome, the people responded very well and it was fun to do! On Sunday we did another Revival America in Hartland, WI. So that means we did Revival America 3 times in one week! It was exhausting!

Sunday was the opener of the NFL season and I am a die hard Green Bay Packer's fan! Born and raised in Wisconsin, it's a given! The big game was that evening and I had Lincoln all decked out in his outfit! :) He went to Sunday evening church like this!

What a cutie!

I was so excited for the Bears/Packers game! (Old Brett Favre jersey from his packer years...)
Joe made my day when he got the screen and projector all set up! It was so much fun! We watched the game outside, it was a beautiful night and the Packers won! :) So this was literally my "view from my front door!"
Near the end of the game it was time for Lincoln to settle down for bed...BUT the game was too exciting for him to be settling down for bed!!! :)

After Hartland, we traveled an hour to Utica, WI. I played basket ball against Utica in high school and it was nice to see some of the girls that I played with! I also met Kim and Erin and made new friendships with them! Lincoln loved playing with them when they came to visit during their lunch break!

Now we are in Inver Grove Heights, MN. We spent all day Friday at Mall of America and even got to go to IKEA. (never been there, mom said it was a MUST!) We enjoyed browsing around, window shopping, and visiting the sharks in the underwater adventure! For lunch we went to Rain Forest Cafe, Lincoln wasn't too sure of that place. I found out he doesn't like thunder storms or fog...
My mom has a shot of me and my siblings in front of this very lego statute from YEARS ago!
One of the things that I've really liked about traveling is the chance that we get to see some of our really good friends. Jon and his wife Elise don't live too far from where we are at now! We enjoyed having them over the last couple evenings! Jon's a great friend that we met in college, he was in our wedding...it was so nice to meet his wife for the first time! We love them and it seemed that Lincoln did too!
I dont have much more time...but these picture are for my mom and Brooke...(and who ever else wants to enjoy them!) He's wearing his Charlie Brown shirt from Brooke!

Making faces as always!
I can't wait till next week! We will be in Northern Wisconsin at the Everson's (in-law's) house for about two weeks! It will be nice to get to spend time with the family! I'm planning on visiting my family for a few days and visiting my siblings at NIU. I always LOVE going "home" whenever we get the chance. Northern Wisconsin is beautiful! Will always be home to me!

Well, I've wasted way too much time...I need to get ready for the evening service!

Slight change of plans

2009-09-08T18:42:00.008-04:00

This week has been SO relaxing as we don't have meetings every single evening. But if it were up to me, THIS is how I would relax! :)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our original plans were to leave today for Hartford, WI and get ready for our program with VCY Radio.

(Click on picture to visit their website)

The team will be performing our Revival America media presentation at the VCY Rally in the Waukesha Expo Center on September 12th (get the info on that here.) You can probably watch/listen if you'd like! :)

Anyways...there's been a slight change of plans because we needed someplace to get everything ready and to practice before the rally. The church here in Madison enjoyed our music on Saturday and Sunday, that they have let us stay and do another service on Wednesday. So we are setting up, practicing, and making sure everything is in good condition for the presentation. I'm so glad that we are getting the chance to run through the program before the BIG program. We haven't been together all summer and are a little rusty on our speaking/and singing parts! :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So that's the reason we are still in Madison. Which is fine! It's funny how in each church I find myself drawn to the people that make up the church. Each person is different and play a special role in their home church. But to come in and visit and to see and get to know a new person/new body of believers every week is very fun and interesting! I guess it's just the bond that all Christians have! :)

I was just thanking God for the sweet fellowship that we find all across America with fellow believers. Just last week I had a lady walk up to me and shared that the Lord was prompting her to pray for me and asked if there was anything specific that she could pray about! That was a difficult week for me. Trailer problems, leaving my comfort, home, family...(SUMMER ENDING!) I was in a discouraged state. But I believe that God brought that sweet kind lady to show me that these people are my family as well! They are my brother and sister's in Christ! I was so encouraged by that!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I thought that I might as well show you a look outside our front doors too while I'm in the blogging mood! I thought it would be fun each week to share what we see outside our doors as our view changes from week to week. I haven't been real consistent with that lately, and will try harder! :)

Here's our trailer next to Ben and Amanda's fifth wheel. Not a fun picture really...(I guess that's why I don't do too much on the topic "outside our front door." Everything always looks the same....) If you look closely, you can see Joe laying under the front of the trailer. He's been "Mr. Fix-it" man since he fixed the brakes and water pump. Right now he's hooking up a little tv into his "garage/storage station" so that he can watch the Michigan State games outside if need be. (Rolling the eyes and sigh) At least it keeps him busy. But we've been to the hardware store a few times too many buying who knows what... :)

Behind our trailers are some swing sets that the kids play on...It's been beautiful outside this week!

Lincoln's sad that he's missing out on everything that's going on outside...(and that his nap was interrupted a little too early!)

Back into the swing of things

2009-09-05T12:06:00.006-04:00

We are back on the road again and starting up our Fall Tour. Our first week started in Cass City, MI. Joe and I weren't sure if our trailer was going to make it due to some brake failure. Praise the Lord we found an awesome mechanic and he taught Joe and showed him how to fix the brakes! The church in Cass City set us up at a wonderful campground. It was nice to get settled into our home and it was very peaceful. The weather was wonderful as well!

But because we weren't living in our trailer all summer, we found out that the water pump wasn't working due to buildup in the pump itself. Joe doesn't know much about water pumps...BUT...after many trys, and assembling/disassembling, and cleaning out every part of the pump, IT WORKS!!! YEAH!!! Lincoln even tried to help out a little bit! :)
This weekend we are in Madison, WI. I enjoy it every time we get the chance to visit my home state! We are actually in Wisconsin quite a bit through out the fall. Check out our schedule here.
Other than trying to keep up with Lincoln, I've been reorganizing and cleaning the trailer. It feels so much better to travel in a clean house. Even Joe got the declutter bug in him and went through some of his things! :) I can't wait to sit down and enjoy a nice cup of flavored coffee and use my gift card that I won from Frugal Gossip! Thanks Kim!
Well, it's another beautiful day. Maybe once Lincoln wakes up, eats lunch, we'll go outside for a bit...(wish I had my stroller...There's some garage sales around the corner.) :(

Silly faces

2009-08-18T22:44:00.004-04:00

Lincoln's been the main source of entertainment these days! Especially with these funny faces! They crack me up! Here he is with Aunt Brooke whom the funny faces resemble when she was his age.

This one doesn't even look like him. But it's the funniest!

Back from summer break

2009-08-15T18:58:00.009-04:00

This summer was just so busy that I decided to take a break from the blog world. Now that things are gearing up for another season of travel, I should catch ya all up on things.
Joe and I stayed at my parents in Lakewood, WI for the summer. I'm too much of a home-body that I think I've been spoiled and now I don't know what I'll do once we leave. I'm so thankful for all the hard work that my parents did all summer to make sure we were ok!
God did put some challenges in our lives this summer, only to draw us closer to him. It was such a blessing to be home and see the church family and to hear my dad preach. I've missed that as well.
Lincoln has grown so much. He's crawling around and getting up and walking along the furniture. When we first got here, he was barely crawling or sitting on his own. He has a mouth full of teeth and still happy as always!

Lincoln with Uncle Brennan hiking at Dave's Falls

This is what Mom, Joe, Lincoln and I did almost every weekend for the first two months that we were here. If you'd like to see some of Joe's work, visit his web site here! And visit my mom's blog here! This is a shot from the Mackinaw show.

Look out tower near the bridge.

Lincoln with my cousin's baby, Bradyn.

who doesn't love baby cheeks?!

Two teeth on the bottom and four on top! SO cute when he laughs! :)

In Mackinaw

Here I am with my sister and some good friends bowling.

Lincoln participated in the watermelon eating contest! He loved it!

Here's some links to more photos of our summer.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=124408&id=505374902&l=5af372b726

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=121083&id=505374902&l=fec31d0206

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=116766&id=505374902&l=d685770990

quick update

2009-06-03T00:43:00.002-04:00

It's been a busy month and I'm really excited to say that we are done and home for the summer! I have so much updating to do and will have to let you all know how our spring tour went! Right now our trailer is still in Midland, MI getting some repairs done while Joe and I are in Lakewood, WI. We will be flying out to Maine on Friday for one more Revival America with Bible Revival Ministries. I'm ready for summer to kick into full gear. It will be busy, but hopefully I'll find some time here to post some pics of our adventures that we had over the spring.
Lincoln will be 7 months tomorrow, can't believe that! He's such a chunk and so much fun! Please come back later to see and hear more from us. Thank you for your prayers through out our travels, we appreciate it!

Ocean view beach

2009-05-14T10:53:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was lincolns first visit to the ocean. He loved playing in the sand and watching the sea gulls. It wad very windy and Lincoln was scared of the waves. I will post more pics later. Right now I'm posting from my phone.
Today we are planning on going to the zoo or see the USS Wisconsin. Come back later to see that!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

The Good, the Bad, the Ugly...

2009-05-10T06:48:00.002-04:00

What a spring tour it has been. So many things to be thankful for. We've seen the Lord working in so many lives. People are so generous with their time and money.

THE GOOD: Last week we were in a small church in the hills of Pennsylvania. Two churches joined together for a week of meetings. It was neat to see these two churches work together. The people there have very big hearts and love the Lord very much. During our week of meetings, Ben's family (BIL) got sick with the flu. It was rough for a few days. Thankfully it passed quickly and my family didn't get it!
At the end of the week we saw God work in an amazing way. Our love offering was WAY above expected. But hey, God does that, doesn't he? We are truly thankful for the two little churches tucked away in the hill of Pennsylvania. They have been such a blessing!

THE BAD: On Saturday we traveled 9+ hours to get to our next destination: Chesapeake, VA. I've been looking forward to this week. The beach, site seeing, warm weather, city life....Because of the sicknesses from last week, the pastor shortened our week of meetings for this week. Which is a HUGE blessing because we've been going non stop for the past 4 weeks and 4 more to go! I've been wanting to do some site seeing but have been too busy. So maybe this is the week to do that! Anyways...the bad part. Traveling all day, hot muggy weather...Joe was kinda irritable all day. He just wasn't feeling up to par. When we got to the church in VA, I noticed that our slide was not working when I was setting up the house. Our main slide out (kitchen/living room) is broken and something is wrong with the gears. We were able to push it out from the inside and it's livable now. We're praying that someone will be able to come look at it on Monday. (and pray that it's not too costly as well.)

THE UGLY: Joe was still not feeling so good. I thought maybe he was tired...stressed out from traveling and then having to deal with the trailer issue. I was feeling fine, more awake than usual for a Saturday night after a long travel. Around 11pm Joe rushed to the bathroom...After he lost his lunch from earlier that day, he said he was feeling better. Good...now hopefully I don't get it. I decided that it would be best for me to sleep out on the couch instead of my own bed near my sickly husband. Through out the night he was in and out of the bathroom. Around 4am (I probably had only 2-3 hours of sleep by then) Joe was on the floor in pain. Numbness, pain in his stomach, sweating...I'm thinking he's dehydrated. To make a long story short, Joe was sent to the hospital, I didn't go...(Lincoln slept through the whole ordeal...except to eat at 3am...which he's NOT supposed to, but I gave in.) Ben followed the ambulance and kept me posted. I've been sitting here since 4:30am trying to get some rest. Ben just called. The ugliness: Joe either has the flu or food poisoning. They haven't ruled which one yet. Also dehydration, and some kind of panic attack. Ben said he's doing better. He's sore and ache. I wish I could be there for him.

That's my story of our weekend. It's been so hard to update while we're traveling. God has blessed us in so many ways. I'm thankful for all the prayers and ask you to pray for my husband right now. It's hard to see the person who usually is the strong one, crumble apart and need you to be strong. I'm not very good at being the strong one.

I wish I had a happy ending to this. I'm very tired and Lincoln is ready to be up for the day. As I wrap this up, Ben just called and the doctors ruled it food poisoning which caused him to be dehydrated. Pray for Joe's strength and health. Thank you!

Easter and Travels

2009-04-28T23:43:00.007-04:00

Ah...finally I can type on my blog! It's been so long since we've had connection! Right now I'm on my new laptop that has wireless and we are connected to the neighbors internet. I've missed my blog and facebook so much. There's too much to tell.
From Illinois we went down to Alabama and stayed with my SIL's Uncle Jay. It was nice to stay and have a mini vacation for a week and half. We had some interesting days with severe weather and tornadoes coming through the hills of northern Alabama. Thank goodness there was nothing serious!
From Alabama we traveled up to Wiedman, MI (near Mt. Pleasant) to Wiedman Baptist. It's a small church, be we had a wonderful week of meetings.
This week our meetings in Hope, MI at Hope Baptist. It's so nice to be here because we are parked in our hometown, Midland. :) On Friday we had Easter with Grandma Ortega and got to see Joe's parents. Here's a picture of Grandma's yard. We had an Easter Egg Hunt. Look at all those eggs!

Lincoln with his Easter Basket

Lincoln with his cousins showing off their Easter Eggs!

More recent pics

Lincoln watching a DVD

He's such a good traveler. Here though, he's ready to get out!

He's also a good eater!
I can't wait to get my packages from our secretary! My prizes are here and I can't wait to see what I got!
It's getting late now. We've been SO busy this week. Hope to be back soon!

winnings

2009-04-01T10:35:00.004-04:00

I had so much fun with the Ultimate Blog Party! I'm still blog hopping through the list! But look at some of my winnings! (Their not directly from the UBP...I found their sites by blog hopping)
First, I won a lovely hat for Lincoln at Flower baby hats. Thanks dr_bristow. I just LOVE the flower hats for girls...But since I don't have a girl, the earflap hat will be adorable on Lincoln!
Through A Giveaway a Day I won a custom initial block from SoLovelyCreations.
I don't consider myself lucky. I guess I ran into a little bit this past week...Thanks for the wonderful gifts! When we stop traveling for the summer in Wisconsin, I plan on having some of my own giveaways. Looking forward to that! :)

The view from our front door

2009-04-01T09:13:00.011-04:00

This week we are in Pekin, Illinois at Faith Baptist Church. We got here Saturday night and have meetings through Friday. It's been a good week and we are enjoying our time here!

Sunday morning though...We woke up to this...Our 'house' is parked in the driveway between the church and preschool.

I guess we got a little spoiled with the spring like weather down in South Carolina. It was pretty though.

At least it all melted!
Joe's been putting his teaching/art skills to good use! He's been teaching an art block class this week at the high school! He's having a blast with that! Check out his website and blog. The kids love him!
Today being April Fool's an all...(never really celebrated that holiday with my family) I'm remembering this day a year ago. My family came to Midland and surprised me for my birthday. (They thought they could surprise me...but I KNEW...)
(Me and my sister, Brooke)
They stayed for a couple days with us. On March 31, we told them that we were expecting. (Wish I had my camera then...)
So on April 1, we had to call other family members about the good news. I couldn't understand why some of Joe's family members wern't taking us seriously. "Haha...very funny. APRIL FOOLS!" Is what his sister said to me. "No really...I'm serious."
She said that she wasn't going to believe me. I was going to have to call her the next day...THEN she'll believe me. Whatever...I don't like this April Fool's thing...
Anyways. Good memories of having my parents there, celebrating my birthday and the good news of Lincoln!
And here he is!Just finished with his bath. He's a happy boy! Not a shy one. (Guess that's a good thing for traveling!) He'll be 5 months old on the third! I can't believe it! He's getting so big! He's a lot of fun.
Well, gotta make sure Joe's ready for school! :)

Tuesday thoughts

2009-03-31T11:12:00.003-04:00

I'm always in search of a good christian parenting books. I'm always asking myself, "How can I be a better wife and mother?" And too many times I feel like I fall short. Motherhood in it self is not thinking of yourself. Too many times I'm concerned of what's best for me, how to get what I want out of it. So selfish.
Motherhood is thinking of others. Sacrificing your time and energy for the good of the family. It's being a servant. And what better example do I have other than Jesus Christ? He is the perfect example of a humble servant.
Just over a year ago, right when we found out I was pregnant, I was reading through Titus 2. I was going through this chapter with a study book. (Created to be his Help Meet by Debi Pearl) Here are some things that I wrote in my journal during that time. It was a great reminder of my duty as a Christian woman.

"A Titus 2 Woman first must be SOBER: To do one's duty, be moderate, self-controlled, thoughtful, and to learn to make wise decisions, and judgment. When a woman learns to be sober, she will not live for immediate gratification. She will appreciate those things that will last for eternity. "

Immediate gratification... So many times I'm frustrated because things are not done. If I don't get my 'too do' list finished, then I'm not happy. "Choose to do those things which will give satisfaction as you view life as a whole, rather than measure satisfaction at the end of each day." (A Mother's Heart by Jean Fleming) Am I having eternity in mind here? Will having the 'too do' list checked off at the end of the day really benefit my relationship with my family? What am I doing that has lasting value?

"A Titus 2 Woman must love their husbands: Putting his needs before your own. BE READY to minister to him!"

Again, here it is. Putting others before me. I ask the Lord to help me in this area. At the end of the day, I realize times where I could have, should have ministered to my husband. I fail all too much. Please forgive me Lord. I have such a wonderful husband who deserves so much more than this foolish girl.

"A Titus 2 Woman must love their children: For a mother who loves her children, training is not a chore, it is a full-time, all-consuming passion. They are worth every minute of time and trouble to every 'dedicated' mother."

"To be Discreet: Prudent; wise in avoiding error and in selecting the best means to accomplish a purpose. Polite and honest."

"To be Chaste: Pure in though, word and act. To be modest and honorable in all things"

"To be Keepers at Home: Keeping a godly home with excellence for your husband and children is the christian woman's nonnegotiable responsibility."

"To be Good: A good woman is genuine, joyful, virtuous, valuable, kind, merciful, hard working, gracious and wise."

"To be Obedient to their own husbands: TRUST! Depend on his wisdom and guidance. Proverbs 12:4 'A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband...'"

So as I read through Titus 2 again this week, and looked back at my notes from last year, I am greatly convicted on how I've lacked in my motherhood life. I would wonder 'where am I in this ministry? How can I reach people? Send me Lord.' The home is where the Lord has sent me. My family is my ministry. This is my calling. And there's no where else I'd rather be. I pray that these things will show through in my life as I grow in my Christian walk.

Shadow

2009-03-29T16:51:00.003-04:00

This post is taken from my mom's blog.

We've had Shadow for thirteen years (got her on Bethany's 10th birthday). She was stone deaf for about a year, going blind, but basically still doing good until a week ago. She got very sick, didn't eat for the whole week and we finally had to bring her in to the vet yesterday and have her put down. We will miss her a lot!!!

She LOVED to go camping. She was great friends with the chipmunks at Boot Lake!!

She was a Christian dog. Here she is ministering in her favorite way...cleaning up the gym floor at the church after lunch. (Actually she is helping us get ready for Bethany's wedding here.)

She sat in on a few Senior Picture photo shoots (for Brooke & Brennan, anyway...what's up with that? She was supposed to be Bethany's dog).

She HATED water in general, and getting a bath in particular.

She didn't quite understand the family picture thing...just look at her face!!

She made Scott believe that she enjoyed all the things he did to her. Not so sure about that...

...but she did enjoy Scott.

Lots of good times!!!!

Thanks mom. I am going to miss her so much.

Shadow, Thanks for taking walks with me in the woods and keeping me company! Thanks for playing fun games like hide'n'seek, with us kids. Thanks for being our pillow while we watched tv, and for always greeting us with a handshake! I wish I could have been there during your last days. But at least I have the memories of you. I love my dog Shadow. Good bye good friend.

On the road again

2009-03-26T23:48:00.004-04:00

After being here in Greenville, SC for the past three months, it's time to pack up and start our Spring Tour with Bible Revival! Our first stop is Faith Baptist Church of Pekin, IL. We've been practicing, warming up our voices, and learning new songs. Today we all got together and did a promo shot. I don't have the team shot. But here's my family! Lincoln is such a cutie! :)Being in one place for a stretch of time, I noticed that stuff started to pile up in our little home. Things were adding up, and junk seemed to be cluttering in every corner. Today was a big clean-up day in our home. Everything has to be put away and secured before we travel. That's one of the good things of packing up and leaving every week after team meetings. The house HAS to be cleaned at the end of the week in order to travel.
I'm sad to be leaving the bloggy world for the next few days. We are never sure if we'll get wireless at our next stop. (the only thing we have right now is a desktop. Planing on getting a Laptop this summer) I finally found my own little corner in the blog world! I hope to be back soon to show the veiw from our front door.
I had fun partying, blog hopping and meeting new people through the UBP. I hope no one minds if I go back to the Linky site to see how everyone is doing! I will for sure check to see if I need to claim any prizes! :)
So...back to cleaning/rearranging clutter. I will miss my bloggy world. Hope to be back soon!

Tuesday thoughts

2009-03-24T12:22:00.005-04:00

During rough, difficult times, I love reading Psalms. Psalm 27 has been one of my favorites.

The Lord is my light and my salvation: whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?...

For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion; in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock...

...Thy face, Lord, will I seek...

Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart...

These were just some verses that I read today that were encouraging. Always a good reminder.

I'm anxious to get back on the road and minister to fellow believers. I'm even more anxious to be home for the summer. These next two months are going to be so busy and the summer in Wisconsin is looking so inviting! I can't wait! I'll be home with my family, close to Joe's family, and best of all...Close to the beach! My favorite!

Take some time today and reflect on what the Lord is doing in your life. Is he stretching you? Did you read an encouraging verse today? I'm always reminding myself to practice a thankful heart.

5 things I'm thankful for today:

The sun is shining brightly! I love sunny days!
Quiet time in God's word.
My husband is out with another full days work before we head out on the road.
Lincoln didn't wake up at 3am like the last two nights!
Friends. I have wonderful friends that encourage me. I should thank them personally.

I better go now. Lincoln just woke up from his nap and wondering what's taking so long for me to realize he's awake. (I hear ya buddy, momma's coming!)

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

I won!

2009-03-23T16:31:00.003-04:00

Thank you so much to Amy at Park City Girl for the lovely giveaway! I'm so thrilled! This is my first time to win a giveaway!

I will use my bag proudly! Thanks again! And don't forget to check out how you can win prizes here!

Lil bit of the weekend

2009-03-22T09:38:00.007-04:00

Joe was able to pick up some hours this weekend, (praise!) so Lincoln and I have had the house to our selves! Joe is gone today (Sunday) as well. He is in Georgia singing with the Calvary Quartet. They were short one guy this weekend and asked Joe to fill in. Which is another praise! The Lord is providing in small ways.

Here's a video and some pics that I took over the weekend. Lincoln is so much fun to be with!

Don't forget to check out my party!

Let's Party!

2009-03-20T08:54:00.012-04:00

The Ultimate Blog Party is getting started and you'll definitely want to join! WHY?! You can win PRIZES!!! And meet new people! What's more fun than that??!! So go over to 5 Minutes for Mom and read all about it. I can't wait to get this party started! Thanks for joining me, let's get to know each other!

My name is Bethany, I'm 22, and I've been married to my WONDERFUL husband Joe for 20 months now!We met at college through some awkward, but memorable moments! I love him dearly and can't say enough about him. (please check out his website! He's very talented!) He is trying to start up his business, Joe's Studio. Check it out.

On November 3, 2008, our adorable son Lincoln Joseph was born! You can get to know him if you look through my blog. He's fun to take pictures of!
Joe and I travel for the Bible Revival Evangelistic Team. (Old pic from last year before Lincoln arrived) With Joe's brother and his family, we make up the Bible Revival Team. We travel across the country to local churches ministering with music and preaching. We've been on the team since August of '08 and it's been quite an experience! What we call "home" is a travel trailer that hooks up to the back of our truck. We love having our home with us everywhere we go. And the view outside our door is always new and exciting!

Another thing that you have to know about me is that I was born and raised in Wisconsin and it's still very much apart of my life. I am a cheesehead and proud of it! I love being with my family and traveling does make me homesick. Other than Joe, my mother is my best friend! Please visit her blog. Her frangrenced soaps are wonderful!

Thanks for stopping by! I can't wait to meet everyone! Don't forget to check out the Ulimate Blog Party and get your name entered in some of those prizes!!! I would be hosting a giveaway...but we will be leaving our station and packing up and moving to another location. I don't know what our options are for wireless...But I do hope that you come back and visit! There will be more stories of our lovely travels! Thanks again!
Happy blogging!

*If you are coming from the UBP linky site, please click on my header at the top to see if I've updated my blog. :)*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There are so many prizes to be won. Here are my top choices:

Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer from Mom's who think
$50 gift certificate to a Target Store provided by Shoot-Me-Now
$10 Gift certificate to Charley's Grilled Subs provided by Charley's Grilled Subs
Two $25 Gift Certificates Tiny Tots with Style

If any of my top choices are chosen, here are some other great gifts I'd like. Check out the list at the UBP
#21, #22, #26, #41, #58, #60, #72 Or anything else related with giftcards or baby items for my 4 month old. You know what? I'd just be happy to win anything!!!

Some thoughts

2009-03-19T12:30:00.003-04:00

This morning I was reading my Proverbs for the day. Proverbs 19:21 caught my eye. "There are many devices in a man's heart; nevertheless the counsel of the Lord, THAT SHALL STANDS." I also came across some other verses that showed that my God is a Provident God. A God that is providing carefully for the future. MY FUTURE.
Prov. 20:24 "Man's going are of the Lord, how can a man then understand his own way?"
Prov. 3:9 "A man's heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps."
Prov. 3:6 "In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths."

These verses are very encouraging at this time in my life. Here we've been sitting in Greenville, jobless, money is tight, totally walking by faith. Isn't that what the Christian life should be? Walking by faith? But it seemed that we were stuck. No where to go. Why are we here? What do you have for us Lord?

Questions like these filled my mind. What's the purpose? "Man's goings are of the Lord, how can a man then understand his own way?" I feel that God is preparing us for something. Joe and I may not know what's going on. But God does. He is "providing carefully for our future." He is a God that is a provident God.

But what about the "devices in a man's heart"? How do I not let my heart, my foolish wicked, sinful heart get in the way? I don't want distractions getting in the way and obscuring my view from the plan that God has for me in my life. "In all they ways, acknowledge him..." I'm always asking God for wisdom, and for the strength each day.

God is making a path for this family. He has it laid out for us. There are twists and turns, bumps and hills. But by keeping our eyes on the Lord, diligently serving Him, we are in His will. This is God's will for us to be here in Greenville, jobless... It's a time of stretching, growing, seeking His face.

I really want to know what the future holds. How is God going to use this weak vessel? I pray that this family will be a light in this dieing world. That we will be an example to future generations. Our family is still young, but God can still use us. I feel that God will use us some way. I'm letting God prepare me now.

I know I'm not very much of a writer. I mostly ramble on and on. Not making too much sense at all. I just hope to be a small voice to future generations. Future mothers, wives, sisters in Christ... We all go through struggles in life. I just want to share how God is working in mine. Today I'm praising my God who is looking out for me and my family. I know that I can fully rely on him.
I won't be offended if you don't read my posts. But please let me know if you have something to say. Let's praise our God together!

Happy Birthday, Honey!

2009-03-16T10:20:00.002-04:00

Today my Mr. Right (Joe) has a birthday! It's a special day! Today I will be making him homemade pizza and cheesecake! I love him to death and he is my very best friend! Right now I'm going to wake him up and wish him a happy birthday!

The view from our front door

2009-03-15T08:14:00.003-04:00

I've been wanting to do this for a while and thought that it would be fun. The Bible Revival Team is back together and will be heading out of Greenville soon to start our Spring Tour. (That's what I call it!) Once we start traveling, I want to blog every Monday about what's "outside our front door." So that people who read my blog (if any) can see where we are and find out what's going on at our "house."

Meet the Snow Family

For the past 3 1/2 months, our home has been parked in the Snow's driveway in Greenville, SC. (Read the story of when we bought our home here.)

We've had a wonderful time here. The kids pop over every now and then to see what we're up to. Lincoln LOVES Elise! Joe and Andrew spend most of their times gaming or playing with their wooden swords. Lynn and Terry have been so gracious! We appreciate all that they've done for us!
It will be hard to leave! It's been fun! I'm really gonna miss the Southern Sweet Tea!
To find out more about the Bible Revival Team, visit our website. Maybe you can come see us when we are in your area!

Joe's Studio being featured!

2009-03-13T11:38:00.003-04:00

My husband's business was featured on Particularly Pretty. Ashley is from Midland, MI (where my husband is from) and she was featuring some artists from the area. So Joe is on the Tuesday Top Ten. Check it out!

What's for Dinner?

2009-03-12T17:24:00.004-04:00

I've been asking myself that question a lot this week. Money has been tight and the pantry is running dry. I've been bored with the main recipes that I use and am search for new ones. I love looking through KRAFT magazines and cook books and recipe blogs. But who better than fellow wives and mothers who know about good wholesome food that is affordable with a single based income?! So I'm asking you to help me out here. Please give me your family's favorite "cheap" meal.
Here's one that my husband and I love:

Teriyaki Chicken
Ingredients:
3/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
12 chicken drumsticks (I use breasts or thighs as well)

1) Combine the soy sauce, oil, brown sugar, ginger, and garlic powder in a container to marinade chicken. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour or overnight.

2) Drain and discard marinade. Bake chicken uncovered, at 375* for 35-45 minutes or until juices run clear.
Serve over hot rice!

I love this recipe because I cook it different ways depending on how much time I have. Sometimes I'll combine everything in the crock pot and let it cook all day. (The smells are wonderful) Or I'll combine everything in a pot and boil the chicken for about 45 min. Or reserve some of the marinade and grill the chicken outside for an awesome bar-b-que!

Joe says that I make chicken too much. I'm sorry...It's cheap and easy. He enjoys Mexican style and I like pasta, shrimp, and chicken! :)
This summer I'm going to try to cook for my whole family in Wisconsin. I've been wanting to work at my cooking skills and can't wait to use my family as my guinea pigs!
Hope you enjoy my recipe, and I hope to use some of yours! Thanks!

Winner of Joe's Studio Giveaway!!!

2009-03-07T10:47:00.006-05:00

I can't believe that it's March and that Spring is here in Greenville, SC!
I'm excited to announce the winner of my first giveaway. I had fun and am looking forward to my next giveaway!
Now to the winner! I used Random.org and #36 Joy from Joy To The Blog is the lucky winner! Congratulations! Thank you for blogging about my giveaway, I'll be emailing you shortly. Thank you everyone for participating! If you are still interested in any of my husband's services, please check out his blog, website, and etsy shop. He is always working on something new. Remember to send him some love if you visit his sites! :)

Lincoln's trip to WI

2009-03-03T10:13:00.015-05:00

We are up in the cold north for a few days visiting family. We got here Saturday and will be leaving Wednesday morning. It's so short. But I'm glad we had the chance to see everyone. We were able to visit Joe's family as well, and tonight we will be watching our brothers play b.b. against eachother.
Can't wait to come back here in the summer! I love summers here in Wisconsin! But it's back to Greenville for now. (Hope the snow is gone down there!)

This is my crazy brother. Always making us laugh!

Lincoln with Grandpa!

Lincoln with Grandma!

I'm Home!!!

2009-02-28T17:52:00.003-05:00

Joe and I are in Lakewood, WI with my family! Sorry that I haven't kept up with anything. The last couple days have been hectic with sickness, baby, packing, etc... I will definitely post some pictures of our adventures! The trip from Greenville, SC to Lakewood was eventful!
Don't forget to take a look at my giveaway! You have one more week! And please send some love to the artist! He would appreciate that!! :)
I will be back with pics!

SLANKET!

2009-02-19T15:14:00.004-05:00

What's a slanket? Read all about it here
I love giveaways and I think this one might be the best yet!
Don't forget to check out my giveaway that's still going!

Mailbox surprise!

2009-02-17T15:38:00.010-05:00

Look what we got in the mail today!!! Thanks mom!!!

A box FULL of goodies! I can't wait to use the coffee and read some magazines! Oh, and use my sweet smelling candle!

Joe loves his business cards you made him!

I LOVE the necklace of Lincoln that you made me!!!

Lincoln was supposed to be taking his nap. But he was too excited.

He LOVES the clothes and baby wipes and socks that you gave him!!!
THANKS GRANDMA!

More pictures taken this week.

Valentine's Day at City Range Restaurant. They gave me a rose!

This picture is for Great Grandma Ortega. He's wearing a new church shirt from her!

Have a good week! And don't forget to enter my giveaway!

Joe's Studio Pencil Drawings Giveaway!

2009-02-15T13:33:00.008-05:00

This is my wonderful husband, Joe. My husband just started up his own studio (Joe's Studio). Joe is currently trying to jump start his business and is willing to offer some freebies!!! (Yeah! I love freebies!) My husband loves to work with pencil. He does wildlife, nature, and also portraits. Here's an example photo to pencil drawing of our son Lincoln.Joe's drawings are very realistic and I can't say enough about them! Please take a look at his etsy shop and let me know which drawing of his that you like. (Personally, I like the one of our son!) March 7th we will draw a name and the winner will receive a 8.5"x11" print of their choice.
Joe blogs about his current works. Visit his blog here to get to know Joe better. We love comments! Or check out his website here.

1st Entry: Visit Joe's Etsy shop and come back here and let me know which one you like the best.
Extra Entries: For EACH entry, please leave a separate comment. --
~Blog about this event with a link to this site. www.joeandbethany.blogspot.com (Give me the link of the post.)
~Become a follower of my blog

This giveaway closes on Friday, March 6th at midnight Eastern Time. Open to US residents only. Please leave your email if you don't have it on your profile. (You can also e-mail me your e-mail address if you'd rather not post it) Winner will be announced on Saturday, March 7th by email (winner will have 48 hours to respond to me with their mailing address or a new winner will be chosen).

We love getting to know new people and look forward to meeting you! Happy blogging! :)

I Love my Valentine!

2009-02-13T23:40:00.005-05:00

This is an old picture of me and my Valentine from college 3 years ago at the Valentine's Banquet at Northland. I'm glad to say that he's still the love of my life!Joe...
I'm thankful for all the memories and moments that we share together. There's no one else I'd rather be with. You make all the adventures in life fun, interesting, and memorable. Thank you for joining me on this journey. You are my best friend, soul mate, and a dream come true! Thank you for giving me a beautiful son, for loving me, for being such a caring person, for your music, for being my strength in hard times, being a rock, a comforter, my everything. I pray to be the best in all that I do. For you, our son, our family, and our Savior.
Thank you Lord, for my husband, Joe... Happy Valentine's Day babe, I love you!

A beautiful rose from my husband. (he used to send me pics of flowers every Monday durning college!)

To all my friends, old and new, and to my family, Happy Valentine's Day! I love you all!

A Walk in the Park

2009-02-12T22:08:00.009-05:00

It's been so nice here in Greenville, SC. It's been reaching the 70's the last couple days. So we thought it would be nice to get out of our small trailer and soak up some sun. Our first stop was Spill the Beans for a Frap. for Joe, and ice cream for me!

This is Reed River. Spill the Beans over looks this park. It's so beautiful. There are trails all along the river. People were laying out blankets on the grass, playing with their dogs...It was a good day to go to the park. You can see some of my husband's photos that he took here.

I'm not a photographer at all. But I love how this one came out. :) Joe and Lincoln basking in the sun's rays!

This is the Artist Crossings. We went and visited some studios and shops. Joe was able to get some inspiration and asked questions to fellow artists.
It would be so fun to come down here in the summer. Now I'm not so sure I want to leave Greenville! I was telling Joe, I wish my parents could come. They would love it.

Kiki & Lele giveaway

2009-02-10T10:52:00.003-05:00

I had to blog about this awesome giveaway! check it out here!

Kiki and Lele are having an awesome giveaway. I just love their jewelry. They've inspired me to start working on some of my own jewelry! Check out her stuff and enter yourself!
Have a great day!

My lil guy!

2009-02-09T17:32:00.005-05:00

My lil man all ready for church!

Today the weather was so nice. So here he is wearing a cute outfit from my mom. I don't know how much longer he'll be able to fit into this. So I thought I better put it on him now while the weather is nice!
I better get going. We are going to Chris and Nicole's for supper. I'm not ready, and neither is Lincoln. He's still taking his nap. Today was kinda a ruff day. So finally he's sleeping. I guess I should wake him up now. Oh boy...

more photos

2009-02-04T20:33:00.004-05:00

My son Lincoln. So much fun! He just turned 3 months yesterday. I can't believe how fast time flies! Thanks mom and Brooke for the "3 month" Birthday wish!
Lincoln's favorite things are: Daddy, his pooh blankie/toy, watching tv, falling asleep with daddy, meal time, smiling, mornings, having his nose or paci rubbed while falling asleep, and sucking on his fingers.
He does not like his little "Jeep" rocker that much anymore. (sorry mom) He usually likes to be left alone when he's sleepy. Except when he's over tired, then we have to put him to sleep. Mornings seem to be his favorite time of day. He's very happy around 8am after his second feeding. Sometimes he gets to rest for a while with mommy and daddy. (We aren't morning people)
Bed time is usually around 10-10:30pm. He'll sleep till 5 or 6am. Mommy loves it when he sleeps till 7 or 8am. Daddy thinks that Lincoln is like mommy, cries like Aunt Brooke, and even looks like Grandpa VanLaanen sometimes. I see Grandpa Dana in him sometimes. (he has that same upper lip!)
So that's a lil bit about Lincoln. This week has been a lil bit of a challenge. His eating schedule is a lil off, and he seems to be a bit more fussy. I wonder if he's beginning to start teething? He's been sucking on his fingers and other things and drooling quite a bit. When do babies start teething?

Joe's been working on his drawings. And I think he just finished one of his best yet. Check out his blog or website.
I need to try and upload a video of Licoln talking. I don't have the time now. So...I'll do that later.

Better late than never

2009-02-03T18:31:00.006-05:00

As of late. Here are some recent photos of our lil family! Joe did this drawing of Lincoln.

Here we are at the hospital November 3, 2008 With Lincoln Joseph Everson. Delivery went very smooth all because of my wonderful coach! Joe helped me through each contraction. Lincoln was born at 2:55pm, weighed 7lbs 14oz.

Christmas with the family.
More photos to come!

update

2008-10-14T14:39:00.003-04:00

I figured it was time for a quick update. Traveling is going well. We've been all over Michigan, to West Virginia, and now Wisconsin. This is our last week of meetings in Wild Rose, Wi for Joe and me. After that, we are gone for "maternity leave". I'm ready to slow down and start thinking about baby stuff and what I'm going to do with all the gifts I'm receiving!
We're anxious to get to Lakewood to see family and spend a few days at home. Last week we were with Joe's family doing meetings at his home church. It was nice to see some friends at Northland as well.
I'm ready to have this baby. Very anxious. Lil scared. But mostly excited. Hopefully I'll have pictures. I'm looking for a camera. But haven't found anything for our price range. If anyone knows of one for a good price... :)

back to Michigan!

2008-08-27T23:33:00.003-04:00

We've been in Alabama for about a month now and I'm ready to get back to the north. The humidity here is almost unbearable. But I'm almost scared to find out the summer is over for the north. We'll see.
I've enjoyed my time here with the people of Riverview. They are very nice. I really enjoyed the times when we got to go to "Grandma's House" for dinner. She is a fine cook.
I'm anxious to get back and see my doctor. I was sent to the emergency room today for minor complications. Results came back that everything is normal. Just a little scare. No big deal. It's been a hard month with everything. But the Lord does provide and is protecting us. I've been encouraged through out my everyday reading of the scriptures. I've been reading a Psalms and Proverbs a day. It's really nice to not have to be rushed in the mornings and take the time to read God's word. I know it's one of the main things that has helped me this past month with all the struggles we went through.
The truck is fixed, with a totally different back end. So we are praying that this one will hold out on us. Joe has been learning a lot about vehicles. He had to reinstall the air bag system to the back tires and was able to watch/help Uncle Jay fix the truck. He enjoys that and likes to get dirty.
Well, it's getting late. We have a big day ahead of us!

The Peace of God that passeth all understanding...

2008-08-13T21:33:00.004-04:00

I thought that I would try to give a quick update on what's been going on. Joe and I left the last week of July to visit family. We had a wonderful time at my parents house. We parked our "house" right in the front yard for the week. Joe's parents were able to come and visit Wednesday to hear Joe teach the evening service. I was also able to see some friends when I went to bring my brother up to Northland for camp.
August 2nd we attended Jordan and Abi's wedding while we stayed at Pastor Steinmetz's church. (Our second family) It was a nice and relaxing weekend for both of us before we took the long drive to Southside, Alabama.
Two days into the trip, we were having some car issues that made us stop on the Kennedy/Tennessee border. (Clarksville, Tenn.) The Lord saw it fit for us to be there for two nights. Our truck ended up getting transmission work done. (which is never cheap) So we were delayed for a couple days. Wednesday afternoon we finally got to Riverview Baptist Church, where Bible Revival's recording studio is. (www.rvbcsouthside.com)
The truck still has some issues. (tranny works fine, something else in the back end that caused the speed sensor to go and a few bearings is in need of repair.) Praise the Lord that Amanda has some relatives here that know their auto stuff real well and are willing to work on the truck free of charge. We only have to pay for parts.
The Lord has been good. There has been ups and downs through out it all, but we are getting a lot of work done in the recording studio. We will be here for two more weeks and then head back up for Michigan for our first week of meetings.
I wish I could get pictures for you all to see. Amanda's family here is really interesting and funny! They live up in the hills and enjoy life! :) Despite not having our truck while it's being worked on, not having any money, having the microwave blown, (another story, another time) I know that I can have peace through it all. (Phil 4:7) Please remember to keep us in your prayers. Right now it's been very easy for us to get discouraged as we don't know how things are going to work out with such little finances. Little things seem to get us down when we feel that we've been working so hard. It's been two steps forward one step back kind of feeling. I need to constantly remind myself that God knows best and that things will work in His perfect timing.
Well, I need to go now. We have some more work to finish up in the studio. (recording) I never know when I will get the internet, so hopefully we will have a good truck and uplifted spirits next time I update!
oh, baby is doing well. My last check up before we left in July was good. Can't believe how fast it's gone by. 88 days left. wow. We are going with Lincoln Joseph Everson. (lately I've been thinking of a girls name...and I like Layla. Don't know why. It's just a girls name that popped into my head) Anyways...Good bye for now!

Love of my life

2008-07-14T09:51:00.004-04:00

It's been an awesome year married to my best friend. I can't believe how fast it's gone by. Everyday I find myself falling in love with him more and more. I really don't take the time that I should to appreciate my husband. I could not ask for anyone better. He's caring, loving, patient, funny, knows me like no one else does. He's a hard worker and fun to be with. I can't imagine life without him. The Lord has blessed me with a wonderful husband who loves me.

Thank you Joe, for the best year ever. I love you so much and I can't wait to see what's to come this next year! My prayer is that I'll love you with unconditional love, to be the best help meet that I can be, and to be a Godly wife/mother for the rest of my days.

Finally settled in!

2008-06-30T10:44:00.003-04:00

The busyness has finally gone down and we are happily settled into our little home. A friend of Ben and Amanda offered their property for us to hook up till we are ready for Alabama at the end of July. Here we have power, cable, and sewer hook up. While we were parked at the church last week, we didn't have enough power to run our AC. Joe loves the fact that when he gets home from working outside all day, he can now turn on the AC with out worrying that we will lose power. We had an eventful week with helping out with the rummage sale for Ben and Amanda, Joe helped some friends move out of their house, we moved out of our lil basement, doctor's appointment, and running around everywhere for other odd reasons. I'm glad to be settled in and just to get some relaxation.
The next thing that we need to do is buy tires and a suspension package for our truck. The tires on the back aren't the best for towing something this size. We are praying that the Lord will provide before we make the trip to Alabama. Sad to say, we aren't sure if we will make it to Wisconsin at the end of July. If we get the tires in time and save enough, there is a possibility of us traveling to Wisconsin. I'm praying!!!

i don't like blogger

2008-06-21T21:18:00.001-04:00

I didn't realize that the post would look like this. please bear with me. As I spent too much time on that last post, and the internet signal is too weak to stay on much longer. it keeps cutting out.

Our new home

2008-06-21T21:14:00.002-04:00

The last two days have been very frustrating for me. I could rant on and on and vent a little bit. But to spare you the time I will not. To make a long story short, through all the hard obstacles God is still good. We are now sitting in our trailer enjoying the new home. The Wheeler's are letting us park the trailer in their driveway for a while so we can load up.
Here are some pics of the day.

Here we are the dealership, just bought the trailer! It's ours!!!

It look SO HUGE sitting out on the street. I don't know how Joe backed it into the lil drive way!

But he did an excellent job at it. It only took him about two tries!

We're home! We started moving in. Hopefully next week we will be on a site that will provide sewer and water hookup. We do have electricity right now. (hence I'm using a computer from inside the trailer!)

The "preggy" picture that I promised. I can't believe that I'm almost half way through the pregnancy. This shot is about 19 wks and 5 days. Almost 20 wks now. wow. I don't think the picture does justice. I feel huge

I don't know how many more pics I'll be able to post. This morning we found that someone went through our truck and stole two cameras and some cords for our portable dvd player. I was very upset. I cried on the way to picking up the trailer. I wanted to take pictures of the whole experience of buying our new trailer. I'm so thankful that the Wheelers showed up and let us borrow their camera. They have been such a blessing.

We were able to find the cords that were stolen. The next door neighbor was cleaning out her flower garden in her front yard and found the pile of cords in her plants. At least we have that. I'm just praying that something will come up.
Until next time...We are just loading up our new home!

update

2008-06-18T10:29:00.003-04:00

I really want to get some photos of me and my growing belly up and posted. But every time I think of it, the camera is with Joe in the truck gone to work. Bummer.
Anyways. It seems that the past week and half the lil guy has been on a growth spurt. He's alive and kicking. Joe felt him for the first time couple days ago. I had a lady ask me my due date and then she said, "Are you sure you're not having twins?!" Come on now, I'm not THAT big! He already seems to have a schedule of his own. Usually I'm up at 8:30am to make Joe's lunch. This morning Joe and I were able to sleep in for an hour. But not the lil guy. He was ready to get up at 8:30am! Night time right before bed he's been very active as well.
Last week we went looking for rummage sales. I couldn't resist. I bought three sleepers and two blankets at one rummage sale. That was it. Joe says that the baby needs more blue stuff, since what I bought was yellow with just a lil bit of blue.
Saturday is the day we go and pick up our trailer. We are very excited. We should be able to park it here at the Wheelers so we can load it up. I have a lot of junk to go through, and I haven't even really started. It's crunch time. Next week is going to be so busy. I have an eye appointment, doctor's appointment, work, rummage sale all weekend, (selling, not buying) and moving into a trailer. Plus Ben and Amanda will be in town and we will be helping them set up for the rummage sale next weekend. It will be busy, and I know that the next two months are going to fly by so fast. August is creeping up on us. The 5th is when we start training in Alabama.
The Lord has been good to us. There are a few things that I don't have once we leave the Wheeler's. They have offered up so much of their home to us. I've been looking for sheets, blankets, pots and pans, and towels for our new home. I told Mrs. Wheeler about everything that I need to get. She kindly gave me the extra set of pots and pans that I have been using the past year while we were here, and a new set of bathroom towels. The Lord is providing!
I'm looking forward to coming home to Wisconsin in August. It will be a short stay, but I can't wait to see everyone! I will get photos up soon of everything that's going on this week!

Trailer

2008-06-06T09:10:00.011-04:00

Please remember to keep us in your prayers. We are currently looking at this Brookside travel trailer for our new home.

We were set on a different one just two days ago. We've been praying about it for a couple months, and thought the Lord was directing us to a certain trailer. The other day we decided to go take a look once more. On the lot there were new trailers that had just arrived so we thought we would take a look around just to see what was new.

The first one we stepped into, we fell in love. It's about the same price as the one we were set on, plus I found one on-line in Salem, WI priced lower than the one here in Midland. So Joe is talking to both dealers, trying to make the best deal he can get. I didn't take any pictures, but I do have some from the internet. The main reason why we love it so much is b/c of all the storage space there is. Most trailers don't have big enough closets or decent bathrooms. This one seemed to have all the options!

This is the layout of the trailer. (32 ft in length, two slides)

Kitchen/door into bathroom (looking towards the back of trailer)

Living room area. Free standing chairs is something we've been looking for. Couch turns into a bed. (air mattress) It's amazing where they come up with storage options. The table top, under the chair cushions, and under the couch is a drawer.

Looking toward the front of trailer is the bed room. Full closets with mirrors on the doors. Some really nice touches are the doors. They slide to make a wall/double door to the bedroom. It makes the trailer look homier instead of a "camper" feel.

A closer view into the bedroom. Here's the vanity shelf.

There isn't a good picture of the bathroom on the website. But the bathroom is probably my favorite. It is a nice size bathroom. The sink is next to the shower. The best is the full size closet and linen closet. The full size closet has a hanging rack, and the linen closet is big!

Well that's the tour of our potential house! (i know, not much to look at) But we've done our research and have looked at many places. Many people have been so generous and helped us out on the way. We have set up a trailer fund on www.biblerevival.com if you would like to check that out! Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see you all soon in our new home! Please pray!!! :)