Deals!

Ok...I had decided not to post anymore about coupons b/c I had more important things. BUT I am starting to see the snowball effect and I seriously felt guilty walking out of Target yesterday and not sharing. So...I'm posting them so you can see how awesome it can be & some information so IF you are interested you can use the same resources. If you could care less...come back another day for a different post!! :)

The most common question I get: "Do you really need that?" or "Would you normally buy that?" There are some things I wouldn't normally get & things I don't currently need...but for FREE or around $1 or <...I can't say no! And I haven't been over $40 a week yet!


Walgreens - Deals this Week!! Total - $3.33 (before Q = $22.20)

**used $11RR from previous purchases
**Glade Sense & Spray: $4Q here
-->$5.99 - $4Q = $1.99 & get $2RR (FREE!!)
**Trident: $1/2 here
**Sunday paper Q for soup (and they were on sale..I got both for $0.98)
**Airwick scented oils - Sunday paper or $1/2 here
-->On sale 2/$5
**Airwick Warmer $1.50 when you buy 2 refill oils here
-->Free warmer Q was attached at some stores
**Scrubbing Bubbles Shower Cleaner click here for $5Q - $7 seems to be gone :(
-->$9.99 - $7Q = $2.99 & get $3RR (FREE or $2)
(I had a BOGO free on the shower cleaner refills & they were on sale for $3.99...I went back & got these to have later for the cleaner..this Q was with the $7 one that is gone..there is a $1Q now)
Reeses were simply filler items to use Q
Check the blog links below for more Walgreens deals this week!

Target - Deals this Week!! Total - $1.18 (before Q = $25.43)

**used $5 gift card
**Fiber One - 5/$1Q on General Mills cereal here & used Q from coupons.com
-->all 5 boxes were $4.75. I used my $5 GC but got another one. (FREE - only reason I bought)
-->The regular kind had Q for BOGOfree on the yogurt I eat on the back!
**Glade Scented Tin $1.50Q found in tin (currently $1.66)
**Glade Tin Refills: Free w/ candle purchase Q here - use zip 90210
**SoftSoap Nutri Serums: $1Q -same link as above
-->sale @ my Target - $2.99 (found Target $1Q on floor to make $0.99)
**Renu FreshLens - $2Q here
-->Travel size - $1.52 (FREE! - under $2 @ WalMart too - I clicked back and printed 4x)
**Cinnabon: $1Q here & $0.50Q here
-->$2 - $1Q - $0.50Q = $0.50

Target 9/4 - Total = $3.34 (before Q = $25.34)

**$22 in Q - all from Sunday paper

WalMart 9/4 - Total = $1.58 (before Q = $10.58)

**2/$1Q - Klondike (sign up & print here - makes free)
**$3Q - Glade Soy Candle (click here & use area code 90210..may not be available anymore - makes free)
**$4Q - Air Wick from Sunday paper or find Q here

Saturday: Target, Walgreens, Shop-n-Save - Total = $12.57 (before Q= $49.61)

**Used $15 in Register Rewards from previous purchases
**I got back $16 in gift cards or RR to use next time! (so I actually made $3.50 this trip!)
**Glade Sense & Spray $4Q here
-->$5 at Walmart or Walgreens deal above - click the back button for 2Q)
**Wonderbread $0.55Q here
**Glade Scented Tin $1.50Q found in tin (currently $1.66)
**Glade Tin Refills: Free w/ candle purchase Q here - use zip 90210
**All: $1Q here
-->travel size @ Target is $0.85-$1.02
**used Kellogg's coupons from coupons.com and paired with $0.50Q from HotCouponWorld. + Target had a special last week on buy 4 Kelloggs products get $5 gift card back.
**Toothbrushes & Toothpaste were in Walgreens ad last week - they have offers sometimes were you get the item & the same amount back in RR. (which was the case here)
**Skittles were free but Q has expired

Coupon Sites:
RedPlum
Smart Source
Coupons.com

Blog Sites:
STL Mommy
DealFindingChik
Momsbyheart.net
Couponclippinmamma



ALWAYS CLICK THE BACK BUTTON WHEN PRINTING - IT WILL USUALLY LET YOU PRINT TWICE...SOMETIMES MORE! (on the Q other than the coupon sites above)

If you do decide to try these deals, you might ask me first how each store works. (especially Walgreens - or check out stlmommy.com..she has 101s on all the stores I use)

Big Announcement!!!

WOOHOO! Introducing my soon-to-be-sister-in-law:



My brother-in-law, Kevin, proposed to his girlfriend, Emily last night! YEAH!!! That's right...there is going to be another Emily Parker. So excited!!

Congrats you guys!


Also, I have become slightly obsessed with coupon & deal searching. Kyle & I have been on a grocery budget to help with LifePoint's Revolution campaign for awhile. But, I've recently been inspired by our friend/photographer, Lissa Anglin, to look for good deals.

I got all this + an 8 pack of individual wrapped Reeses (that I left at school) for $1.56 today at K-Mart. (well actually for $6.56, but I had a $5 coupon that printed after going yesterday)

The mascara, Reeses, and bowl cleaner were all FREE. (they are having double coupons)

Yesterday at KMart I got all this for $33. (was supposed to be $28 but I had a slightly less than brilliant cashier that didn't know how to use my $5off$50 coupon...but I did get a $5 & $3Q for next purchase!) It may seem like I still spent a lot, but look at the items that were purchased!



Earlier in the week I got this for $20 at WalGreens...plus I got $7 back in register rewards. ($5 on a gift card thanks to my less than brilliant cashier...I had to get the manager to get 5 of my $ back :))


The two previous weeks I've got this in my $40 budget.

This one included a $10 Kellogg rebate & the Snapple & 1 DP were free. (my total went from $64 to $27 at Shop-n-Save that day!)


I got a $10 off immediately at S&S (for spending $50), I got a $20 rebate from Kraft, and a $5 off my next purchase coupon as well! Plus with $5 meat deals, I basically got about 10 lbs of meat for $15.

I'm having to be creative with some of my purchases to eat healthier & stay within WW points..but it's working!
I'm learning that shopping at WalMart really isn't always cheaper!!

Three Years

This is belated but with school starting for me it has been slightly crazy! On August 12th, Kyle and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary!! It feels like just yesterday we had a wedding and at the same time it feels like we have just always been together!

I don't say often enough how much Kyle means to me and how blessed I am to have him as my husband. He has made me a better person and is a wonderful best friend. I respect him and the decisions he has helped us make in our lives. It has been incredible going on this journey with him! I love that dude.

Since our anniversary was on a Wednesday (promotion Wed at that) we celebrated by going to youth! :) It was an exciting night because all our new 6th graders joined us! (we have 10 moving up!!) On Thursday we stayed in downtown St Louis at the Hilton (thanks to priceline!), ate a little Texas Roadhouse, and hung out! Then, on Saturday we went on a River Boat dinner cruise down the Mississippi with Chad & Emily Imboden!

Our "official" anniversary picture at youth:

Us at the Downtown Hilton:

Sort of an arch view room: (pretty good considering we did Priceline!)

Going on the dinner cruise:

Our friends, Chad & Emily: (and my hair cutter girl!)

Good News

Here is some more of the Rob Bell book that I wanted to post: Good News.
(again lengthy, but good stuff)

Another truth about the church we're embracing is that the gospel is good news, especially for those who don't believe it.

Imagine Person X becomes a Christian...Let's say she starts living out Jesus' teachings, actually taking him seriously that she can become a compelling force for good in the world. She is becoming more generous, more compassionate, more forgiving, more loving. Is she becoming a better or worse neighbor? If we are her neighbors, we're thrilled about her new faith. We find ourselves more and more grateful for a neighbor like this...The good news of Jesus is good news for Person X. It's good news for Person X's neighbors...It's good news for people who don't believe in Jesus...And if it is good news for the whole street, then it's good news for the whole world.

If the gospel isn't good news for everybody, then it isn't good news for anybody.

And this is because the most powerful things happen when the church surrenders its desire to convert people and convince them to join. It is when the church gives itself away in radical acts of service and compassion, expecting nothing in return, that the way of Jesus is most vividly put on display. To do this, the church must stop thinking about everybody primarily in categories of in or out, saved or not, believe or nonbeliever. Besides the fact that these terms are offensive to those who are the "un" and "non", they work against Jesus' teachings about how we are to treat each other. Jesus commanded us to love our neighbor, and our neighbor can be anybody. We are all created in the image of God, and we are all sacred, valuable creations of God. Everybody matters. To treat people differently based on who believes what is to fail to respect the image of God in everyone. As the book of James says, "God shows no favoritism." (James 2:1-13) So we don't either.

Oftentimes the Christian community has sent the message that we love people & build relationships in order to convert them to the Christian faith. So there is an agenda. And when there is an agenda, it isn't really love, is it? It's something else. We have to rediscover love, period. Love that loves because it is what Jesus teaches us to do. We have to surrender our agendas. Because some people aren't going to become Christians like us no matter how hard we push. The just aren't. At some point we have to commit them to God, trusting that God loves them more than we ever could.

And one thing to keep in mind is that we never arrive...The way of Jesus is a journey, not a destination. On a journey, the scenery changes. A lot. We can prepare for some things but not all. We make mistakes, figure it out as we go along, and try new things. Failures are really just opportunities to learn.

Serving Others

I opened up a book I read a couple of years ago, "Velvet Elvis" by Rob Bell, to look at some of the stuff I highlighted. I opened up right to an excerpt that I think describes exactly our goal at LifePoint. It's a little lengthy, but good stuff!



Serving Others
I am learning that the church is at its best when it gives itself away. And this is because blessing is always instrumental. Let me explain. In Genesis 12, God tells a man named Abram that he's going to bless him, and through him, he is going to bless the whole world. This is the birth of the Jewish people, whom God wants to use to reach everybody. This blessing is instrumental in nature. God wants to use Abraham, to flow through him, to have him be the conduit through whom God can bless everybody else. Abraham is just a vessel. God doesn't choose people just so they'll feel good about themselves or secure in their standing with God or whatever else. God choose people to be used to bless other people. Elected, predestined, chosen - whatever words people use for this reality, the point is never the person elected or chosen or predestined. The point is the person serving others, making their lives better.

The second significant idea in Genesis 12 is that Abraham's calling is universal. It is for everybody. All kinds of people all over the place are going to be blessed by God through Abraham. God has no boundaries. God blesses everybody. People who don't believe in God. People who are opposed to God. People who do violent, evil things. God's intentions are to bless everybody. Jesus continues this idea in many of his teachings. In the book of Luke he says, "I am among you as one who serves." He not only refers to himself as a servant, sent to serve others, but he teaches his disciples that the greatest in his kingdom are the ones who serve. For Jesus, everything is upside down. The best and greatest and most important are the ones who humble themselves, set their needs and desires aside, and selflessly serve others.

So what is a group of people living this way called? That's the church. The church doesn't exist for itself; it exists to serve the world. It is not ultimately about the church; it's about all the people God wants to bless through the church. When the church loses sight of this, it loses its heart. This is especially true today in the world we live in where so many people are hostile to the church, many for good reason. We reclaim the church as a blessing machine not only because that is what Jesus intended from the beginning but also because serving people is the only way their perceptions of church are ever going to change. This is why it is so toxic for the gospel when Christians picket and boycott and complain about how bad the world is. This behavior doesn't help. It makes it worse. It isn't the kind of voice Jesus wants his followers to have in the world. Why blame the dark for being dark? It is far more helpful to ask why the light isn't as bright as it could be.



The following section was great too...I'll post soon! :)

ATL

I think I made my final trip of the summer this past weekend! It's been a lot of fun, but I'm ready for some down time before school starts. blah...school. Kyle and I drove to Atlanta for Jeff Graves' wedding! Kyle grew up with the Graves' family & I got to know them well in college. Jeff married an awesome, beautiful girl, Jenny. We were excited to be a part of their big day and it was great to hang out with some old friends & meet all the people that Jeff has gotten to know so well while in that area. Here are a few pics from the big day:

The groomsmen all wore black Converses:


Shawn, Jeff, and Kyle...college buds! (Kyle had already changed for our all night drive home)


The wives...me, Jenny, and Rachel!

Lone Star State

My trip to Texas this summer was crazy and all over the place, but I got to see alot of my favorite people...which made it WAY worth it! I flew into Dallas because it was cheap and allowed me to spend some great time with Nate & Laci and Mike & Jen! I hitched a ride with the Beals' to Brandi's wedding in Amarillo! She was a gorgeous bride!!

What better way to calm yourself before your wedding than play the Wii?!?!

I was able to stay a few days after the wedding to hang out with my family and go see my grandpa, uncle, aunt, and cousins all in the Abilene area, which was a special treat! In between all that I was able to squeeze in some brief visits with Elizabeth & her family (including her sis, Valerie, & her new baby, Annie!), Kyle's parents & some Plainview friends, and Jodee - who so lovingly allowed our special lunch to be at Chicken Express!! :) I am so lucky to have such great friends & family!!

I didn't go picture crazy (if you can believe it) and I'm kinda bummed! But, my sister and I did decide to take some pics on an old truck that is on my grandpa's land. Here are some of my faves!