I'm Grateful For... #5

Temples and Eternal Marriage... Both keeps my faith strong and propels me to do better each day.

Thirteen (13) Years of Bliss

Hello! I'm just excited to be able to have time to blog again today. Not consistently just yet as we are in the middle of several big projects towards another move next year.

Today, since we all had a late night, our breakfast date became a lunch date. Mr. Man treated me to one of the nice upscale bbq place in Dallas called Dunston's Prime Steakhouse that SWA employees go to for all occasion. (Look at that dining room!)

(Photo courtesy of Dallas Dines Out dot com)
Again, we had a romantic moment: we were seated on the backwall where all the booths were and in the middle. We were the only ones on that wall... Left alone to enjoy our time together, to talk about life, together... We had the typical bbq lunch selection: bbq, potatoes, salad, soda, but the atmosphere and the great price... The bbq was nothing short of delish! I was in total awe that I forgot to have the server take our picture. Maybe next year... or next time since Mr. Man wants to take me there again (I say, "yay!")

The above was their bbq pit; the mesquite logs are both fired and cooled here; notice the ice cubes? The inside is naturally dark, so I took a risk by having the flash on to capture this part of the restaurant. It was worth it! Below is the entrance... Doesn't that fire just beckon you to sit down and relax? I was blown away for sure!
Like most young couples starting out, we were dirt poor, but Mr. Man and I have always admired good restaurants and imagine what it would be like to sample their menu. Each year, for the first 9 years, and our 11th year, though without any funds, we would imagine the next year and the real possibility of going to such places. I love Chinese and seafood and he loves a good steak, so this year, after pinching enough pennies (and I mean, pinching!) to afford two restaurants that he wanted to try, were gifts that we have both sacrificed for, to give each other.

I don't like jewelry much, and I'm too practical to accept just any household gift and too lazy to shop to pin down any store GC. I'm a flowers girl, but being married to Mr. Man who is practical and loves restaurants, I've learned to not expect flowers and chocolate. I get my own during the holidays or as centerpiece when I can afford it or on occasional splurge. He has probably bought and brought me more pens than he's ever thought of flowers. I have chocolate hidden in our bedroom that it's no longer a special item so just being able to go out by ourselves have been our annual vow renewal, and each penny we spend becomes that much more valuable to us...

Here's a caption of our past anniversary celebrations.

1st year- I cooked and shared the top of our wedding cake. That was so much fun!

2-9 years- we just stayed in, I cooked or we saw a movie; also because we moved several times.

10th- he earned his free stay at the Phoenician Resort where he used to work, and we were treated to a wonderful and romantic day of luscious seafood, mouthwatering steaks, desserts to die for, romantic music and the room was next to a waterfall in a secluded part of the villas. It was magical! All for FREE!!! (There was no way we could have afforded The Phoenician let alone the food!)

11th- I cooked and we watched a movie together over ice cream

12th- We went to Maggiano's, a fine Italian restaurant. Of course, we both had something with shrimp. ;-)

Ok, onto the bliss part... We love our life together, despite challenges that befall any marriage. We always come out more in love with another with each passing year.

Each anniversary, I am filled with sheer gratitude to have landed such a wonderful man. In the Philippines, we have a saying, "it doesn't matter if all we have is salt, as long as we are together." That's how I feel about my husband, I'll do anything for him, go anywhere with him. Sure, there's Valentine's in February, but for us, our wedding anniversary is ours, no one else's and it is our time to reassess, review and relive what makes us, us.

Mr. Man has always been my rock, my hero that always knew he wanted to give me the world. He once told me that if he can give me the stars and the moon, he would because he loves me. That was the very first time he's ever told me he loved me and I remember that statement with every "I love you". I couldn't imagine my life without him nor will there ever be anyone after him- hence my threat (though lovingly) "he simply can't die." ;-)

Being with him opened up different sides of who I am; every day, he helps me believe and have faith that my Heavenly Father sees me as a special soul.

"Happy 13th wedding anniversary, Mahal. Every day with you brings me that much closer to the stars and the moon... I love you."

A "Date" to Remember...

In Hobby Lobby last Monday, we also found, or I should say, Mr. Man found his son his first model car to build. He was as excited about finding it than I-Dude was in learning how to put it together! Here he is with all the pieces out of the box... (Mr. Man took his pictures)
After several minutes of concentration and hardwork, I-Dude manages to complete it all on his own! Look at that grin of accomplishment! ;-)
Tonight, we also decided to make good on our date to try out Joe's Crab Shack that we've set when we first saw the sign by the freeway, TWO YEARS AGO! Mr. Man took me to Marshall's so I can spend my giftcard in finding another top to use for our date but I couldn't concentrate and none of the styles called to me. *exasperated*

How do l look? Am I ready for our date? I know, a momentary lapse of cowardice to bring you a photo of moi! (yes, my hair is naturally wavy and the hubs love my long hair, so no cutting it this year!) I don't wear make-up normally but I do wear them from time to time. You just can't tell half the time because of my skin tone.

Anyway, we left Marshall's empty-handed, but I hinted that I wanted to wear heels to our date (for the obvious height gap; let's just say that even with heels and my hair pulled straight up from my scalp, I'd still be a few inches shorter than my darling hubs.)

Look at what he got me! We went to Payless and I found this uber cute pair of dark purple, 3-in heel, ruffled, peep-toes! I love them!
This is what it looks like from Payless dot com... Isn't it gorgeous? Mr. Man thought they were S-E-X-Y! Sold and cha-ching! My second "NOT ON SALE" pair my whole married life. My first one, my wedding pumps...
I can't tell you how good it feels to have a baby-sitter at a moment's notice!

Well as you can tell from any establishment with a "Shack" at the end, it is no Four Seasons. We walk in and each table, mostly booths, were occupied with families, FAMILIES! Awkward phase 1- check!

Since Mr. Man is a mechanic, any blingage is a no-no, so often, his wedding ring sits in my jewelry box. Tonight, it sat in the box, but I had on mine, so at Joe's, I looked like a cheating married tramp in hot looking getup of purple overblouse tank, straight cut figure-fitting jeans, high heels, dangling earrings, luscious curls down my back and red lipstick to boot! Oh the looks I attracted... Awkward phase 2-check!

We had to wear bibs to protect ourselves from the embarrassing accidental explosion of cracked crab shells. Did I mention my hair is naturally thick and wavy? Well, putting on that bib took a little longer than I thought only to find later that I DIDN'T manage to tie it at all! It fell down to my *ahem* front, stopped by *ahem* my "twins". So... I had to look for a wet wipe on our table, quickly get the "crab guts" and smell out of every nail and whole hands, quickly grab UP, then RETIE my bib! I was so relieved I didn't have any "accidents", but... but... I was more concerned about my new shoes! So I kept looking down while Mr. Man was staring at me, letting me know that he approves of my "purty" look. He had to eventually ask me if I dropped anything or if I got anything on my legs. TRAMPY PERSONA COMING OUT? lol Awkward phase 3-check!

Overall, I realized that the date was a true success. We kept people guessing if we were married-to each other; Mr. Man had all eyes on me and I looked and felt H-O-T, as in I looked good! (Haven't felt that in a while and it felt amazing!) I told the hubs that it felt like we were on an "early dating" sort of date- and we didn't talk much about the kids! We enjoyed the shellfish, each other and the fact that we just strengthened our marriage...

Hope you, too, had a great Tuesday!

I'm Addicted to Baking! (Really!)

Ok, confession time... Way back when I was a new bride, one main reason that would keep me awake at night were actually two things: "What does it mean to be a Mormon wife?" and "I hope he doesn't like homemade breads." Silly right? Not to me; at the time, those really worried me! I even thought if I cook well enough, he won't ask me to bake anything. Didn't work...

I was scared to find out, IF, my new hubby, "Mr. Proper Mormon RM Man", expected me to be this "quick learner" in the ways of being a Mormon wife. I've heard the horror stories of "barefoot and pregnant while smiling all the while" stereotyping of the so-called, "Molly Mormons". Or the often preached, "be meek and submissive to your husband" bits all my life as well as in the church. I thought, "Not me, I definitely wasn't that kind of a personality. I can and do speak my mind!" But that wasn't the cause of my "wake up sweating" moments, it's the "homemade bread" thing.

I was really naive about what LDS wives learn and end up mastering since I heard and see a lot of talented women in every ward I've been in. It was dizzying to take that all in! One fact, I knew, I didn't know how to make bread and let's just say that the first time he mentioned it, I felt cold all over! I knew I couldn't bake outside of brownies and I was soooo pathetic with cookies. "Bread? Bread?!" (My earlier attempts, I made some of the Filipino dinner rolls a couple of times, and each batch turned out like rocks. They were awful!) You have no idea how much I researched and produced gourmet sandwiches to distract him from wanting homemade breads. LOL But he always managed to mention it and hoped that I would keep trying.

But now that I've conquered my fear of baking and I don't really know how it got started (oh yeah, with his banana bread, back in Gilbert, AZ using the recipe from a Dole Bananas packaging). It was a total "exhale and celebrate" moment when my very first loaf of white bread turned out great! I'm sure you picked up on that from my previous posts. ;-)

So, in honor of that, I got brave and made Honey Wheat Bread! Yes, I crossed over to wheat flour! My own recipe, too! *woot woot* See, see? (sorry poor quality pics, cell had to do, left the cam in the van and hubby took the van)

While I was doing that, the girls decided to make some cookies! Chocolate chip cookies, the recipe, from the back of the Blue Bonnet Baking Margarine box. They were delicious! We shared some with the neighbors!
Ok, back to the sandwich bread... I-Dude and J-Pony helped me knead the dough. It was fun having the kids help. I will definitely have them help again next time.

(Psst... see the container, that's from IKEA, and I'm so lovin' that line that next week, I will buy some more of the tall ones to hold another kind of flour because I'll be making "Multi-Grain" next! And I just realized that I can make my own oat flour by putting the rolled variety into a food processor! Cool and money saving, perfect combo!)

This is what it looked like when it came out! While it was baking, I could smell the honey. See it's imperfection, just fine with me and Mr. Man, when I texted it to him, thought it looked delish!
Here's the heel, look at the inside! Doesn't that look like the commercial sandwich breads? It came out soft and subtly sweet from the honey. mmmm...

So now you know a little bit more of why I am so addicted to baking breads now. It was a fear to conquer! And guess what? I have hubby in love with me more... I can't sing him to sleep or scrapbook well enough to grace any magazine, but I can bake sandwich breads and it's making my marriage that much better! A nice bonus, for sure! LOL It keeps him wanting to come home after a hectic half week at work... I love that man! (And it helped that I aced my three different stints with Chemistry: HS Chemistry (Philippines), HS Chemistry Honors (California) and Chemistry 101 in college(California))

Thanks for reading!

Marriage is and should be As IS

I recently came across a blog with a video post where a child, none older than maybe 10, is stating that Prop 8 is wrong by keeping the sanctity of marriage between man and woman by making it illegal to marry same sex couples.

Here's what I think. I respect this little girl's opinion that "it doesn't matter who you marry", but the truth is, it does matter. Family is and can be any number and type of people in it due to their own unique circumstance, but the definition and purpose of marriage should not be confused in defining family. But then again, a family, by basic definition is a group of people, genetically linked, which is started when two people, a man and a woman marries and procreates. Of course, nowadays, the marriage part is often dissolved to a mere choice. How sad...

To go on... The concept of marriage was not OUR idea, humanity did not come up with the concept of marriage, we only expanded on its rituals, practices, traditions; we elaborated on it. The basic concept of marriage is the ultimate union of MAN AND WOMAN, given permission (marriage) by GOD himself to unite physically and cleave unto one another and procreate to fill this earth for His perfect purpose. We are not perfect, but through marriage, we are showing obedience and willingness to know of HIS perfect plan for us. There is a time and science to marriage, not a generic puzzle we try to force because we feel we can or should. God allows marriage to happen early or late or even after a devastating heartache, but God never intended for people to "cleave unto their own" (same sex) to avoid pain or further define our differences, instead, he has commanded us to, "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. (Genesis 2:24, KJV)

Women are meant to collaborate and help men be better people through marriage, not sexually unite and isolate themselves to raising children with only female mentality and men are meant to collaborate to bring out women's inner strength through proper marriage, not unite sexually and raise children with only male mentality.

Each child needs a balanced upbringing of both men and women's strengths, intelligence, compassion and love. No child can survive with a man's guidance or a woman's guidance alone. Woman was created to compliment man, not imitate him, while man was created to protect and tend the earth while a woman's touch beautify and replenish the earth. Man is to help women understand that their differences physically and mentally are a perfect combination to bring about another life, a perfect being sanctioned by God to continue to beautify and tend the earth.

I believe we are designed this way by a perfect and loving God and for man to rearrange that is a distortion of His higher and perfect plan.

1 Corinthians 11:11-12; KJV
"Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord."

"For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God."

If we are to teach our children of their sanctity and if we are to teach them that God is all knowing then we also need to teach them properly of HIS perfect ways for our happiness, not the thought processes of man.

Brownies Anyone?

Today in between General Conference, we decided to do what we did last year, make brownies! This time, in our pantry, we found four boxes of three different flavors.

We shared them with four of our neighbor families and they loved them! I guess a new tradition is born for Sunday Conference.

Last year, for the October Sunday General Conference, I made dark chocolate fudge brownie cupcakes. Today, I made...

Chocolate Fudge...

Milk Chocolate Chunk (it had chips inside)

and Dark Chocolate Fudge!

Do you want some?

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Day 40

Love is a Covenant

"And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:"

Ruth 1:16 KJV

DARE:

Write out a renewal of your vows and place them in your home. Perhaps, if appropriate, you could make arrangements to formally renew your wedding vows before a minister and with family present. Make it a living testament to the value of marriage in God’s eyes and the high honor of being one with your mate.

What I Did:

As we are Mormons, this is not something we do.

But in honor of this dare, I will recommit my life to my husband.

Yes! I'm done, I'm done!!!

Conference Fill-up

Today, for Conference, we played Lingo Bingo and had another creative lunch. We loved hearing about provident living, service, having faith, temple attendance and obedience.

Now that we know we have a lot of edible ration in our house, I have been "playing around" with more impromptu, mixed-up recipes. It's actually really fun to do!

In the fridge, I found some leftover pasta, about two cups of spaghetti sauce, and the taco meat we had Thursday night. Knowing me, you know I'll come up with something! I heated up the sauce in a pot with 1 tbsp of olive oil, then I added the meat in and added some parsley, black pepper, garlic and parmesan cheese. When it was heated through, I added in the leftover pasta and tossed it until all was covered. Wouldn't you know it, I created a Zesty Spaghetti Sauce that even Ian liked! He and Jas do not normally eat any red sauce.


After the first conference, we picked up L-Infinity from her ACT Exam at another high school in the district. It is the science counterpart of SATs. On the way home, we stopped at the store for some bread and next to it, was a Boy Scout Troop 753 garage sale. We stopped and I found a very cute a three-piece blue and white Asian creamer set for $1.50! The original price for each were still on all three and it was a surprise that I found them. In Asian stores, the dishes are so expensive, it's almost painful to look at them. It's not fine bone china, but I love the way it looks! The pictures will be posted on my tablescaping blog on Monday.

Tonight, we just enjoyed some more of the spaghetti with some toast, corn and mandarin oranges...

One more day, and I'll be done with the Love Dare Challenge I started! Woo-hoo!

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Day 39

Love Endures

"Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away."

1 Corinthians 13:8 KJV

DARE:
Spend time in personal prayer, then write a letter of commitment and resolve to your spouse. Include why you are committing to this marriage until death, and that you have purposed to love them no matter what. Leave it in a place that your mate will find it.

What I Did:

I don't need to write a letter; Mr. Man and I, we recommit our love to each other on his days off by talking about all of that we've gone through and our goals for the future.

Off to the Dentist Again!

Today was dental visits for J-Pony and I-Dude. Then lunch at McDonald's. It's a family tradition for every after medical visits.
For Mr. Man, it was driving and some sleep. Then off to fix the dryer exit hose.
For L-Infinity, it was helping her boyfriend's family get setup for a community garage sale tommorrow.
For me, just some rest and Visiting Teaching. Got to visit two of my friends. Yes, it's a very productive day for all of us!

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Day 38

Love Fulfills Dreams

"Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart."

Psalm 37:4 KJV

DARE:
Ask yourself what your mate would want if it was obtainable. Commit this to prayer, and start mapping out a plan for meeting some (if not all) of their desires, to whatever level you possibly can.

What I Did:

I know that he wants us to have enough for a second car soon, so I will pray for that.

Artichoke: Our Golden Veggie

Why? Because J-Pony eats it!

Our pretty J-Pony is very picky and would not eat veggies outside of potato (chips), fries, and corn. We've tried spinach, carrots, peas, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, but no luck. Then one day, back in AZ, Mr. Man and I made a big deal with how artichoke is so good, L-Infinity joined in, then I-Dude got in on the act. After two times more of that and J-Pony joined in. Since then, she's loved artichokes!

She still can't take the whole thing but check this out: This is her plate and she neatly placed them on one side to show exactly how many leaves she ate. She asked us to take a picture and blog about it, so here it is... :-)

We were lucky to find artichokes for 99 cents each at Kroger. It's a very seasonal veggie and we don't particularly like the jarred variety. When it is on a great sale like 99 cents each, we grab six, have one each and later, as an inexpensive date, Mr. Man and I share one over a TV episode we follow.

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Day 37

Love Agrees in Prayer

"Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven."

Matthew 18:19 KJV

DARE:
Ask your spouse if you can begin praying together. Talk about the best time to do this, whether it’s in the morning, your lunch hour, or before bedtime. Use this time to commit your concerns, disagreements, and needs before the Lord. Don’t forget to thank Him for His provision and blessing. Even if your spouse refuses to do this, resolve to spend this daily time in prayer yourself.

What I Did:

Since praying together is really a challenge for us, we make sure that we at least pray with the kids during mealtimes and before bedtime.

2 Down, 2 To Go...

I have two final essays to write left, but the first two I finished, I did very well on! (Yay! Can I get a woot, woot?)

We didn't have a smooth morning. J-Pony and I-Dude woke up twenty minutes before they were to catch the bus, but again, they were able to eat in the cafeteria at school. It was picture day but I forgot to write out checks for them last night so Mr. Man and I drove down to deliver them. But first, Jasmine called asking if we can bring her and Ian good picture day shirts because they forgot to change out of their pajama tops! In the afternoon, it was quite different. I don't know if it's the weather, but we've had a fairly quiet time so far... I-Dude got a behavior stamp (good), J-Pony had a good time at school and L-Infinity thought her Health textbook is funny. No visits until the kids came home. Only 2 phonecalls and after the kids got home, they did homework quietly, voluntarily, and read right afterwards. Are we having a good day? Why yes, we are and I for one am very grateful for that because we've had worst and I feel like I want to celebrate my two recent "A" papers before my "frazzled, computer hog for finals" alter ego takes over again in a few days. LOL

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(From IStockphoto.com)

Day 36
Love is God's Word
"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."
Psalm 119:105 KJV

DARE:
Commit to reading the Bible every day. Find a devotional book or other resource that will give you some guidance. If your spouse is open to it, see if they will commit to daily Bible reading with you. Begin submitting each area of your life to its guidance and start building on the rock.

What I Did:
It's hard to do this because Mr. Man's schedule at the moment is subject to change at a moment's notice, so instead, I tell him of the different scripture passages associated with each dare and discuss them.

FHE: Dining on the Cheap

Tonight, we extended on our 10-day project by having an inexpensive dinner. I ran late so no photos, but we discussed what we learned about not spending for over a week and what that meant for us. We also had join us, our two missionaries, Heather and her son Chase Wolfe, plus we equally divided the food with another family who just had a beautiful baby girl.

So, here's the menu:
Hawaiian Haystacks
Triple Play Tropical Mock Cocktail- (Pineapple, Orange and Lemonade)
Chocolate Trifle

You're wondering how cheap can this be. Let me illuminate:
The main thing we bought today were chicken ($9), orange and pineapple juice cans ($4). The rest, we had in the house. We spent $13, and fed four families.

The FREE dessert were 9 cups of Hunt's Chocolate Pudding, and cut up angel food cake. Layered in low clear drinking glasses for each person. When everyone was ready for dessert, I topped each glass with two small scoops of any flavor ice cream and low-fat whipped cream. Yes, we had all of these in the house, repurposed for company. Enjoyed by three families. Plus, it's healthier, too, since pudding is low-fat if not fat-free, angel food cake is low-fat and two small scoops of ice cream is less than half of what you get at your local ice cream place.

Clever, huh? It was a nice lesson on living on less and being creative with what you have available. The moral is, if you stock up on what you can live with, you can live with your stock and live well.

April 1942 counsel from the

LDS First Presidency:

"In the day of plenty, prepare for the day of scarcity."

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Day 34
Love Celebrates Godliness
"Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; "
1 Corinthians 13:6 KJV

DARE:
Find a specific, recent example when your spouse demonstrated Christian character in a noticeable way. Verbally commend them for this at some point today.

What I Did:
He just did this; he gave the missionaries ride to their next appointment right after dinner since their bikes wouldn't get them there on time. I thanked him for it.

"Bonk, Owie, Waaaahhh!" Nursery Day

As you can glean from you the title, we had an adventurous Sabbath in the Nursery. Our leader just gave birth a few days ago, so it was just us two assistants. No problem, we only had 6 children and they know us. Everything was going great until playtime, the last 45 minutes of the class...

A three year old from the neighboring class decided that he wanted to play with toys instead so he slammed open the connecting door and the folding table we had to keep it closed fell over like a leaf and even though I caught the door and saved one of the kids from being hit, one did get clipped on the neck. She seemed fine and I took her to her mom, but the domino effect took place.

Someone from the bishopric needed my co-assistant and got her at 10 minutes to quitting time. But before that, I had to help one of the little girls from the neighboring class in the potty. All the while, two kids fought over a toy and one of them couldn't recover from the loss of the toy and cried for 10 minutes straight; bless his heart... He wanted Mommy but still played "Ring Around the Rosie, (wahhhh) a pocket full of posies (I'ant Mommy and Daaaaaaaaddy!)

Then as if things are not stressful enough, the only girl left in the room got on a metal folding chair just seconds after I threw something away and my vision was obscured by the not so folded accordion separator wall and heard this "thump" and a squeal. I see her behind the chair, good thing she didn't hit the wall with her head as she has done this before and hit the wall head first I heard from her dad after I told him what happened. I couldn't fold the chair, so I put it up against the wall before he came so he had to make sure that she didn't hit her head.

As Charlie said, I had an adventurous time in Nursery today... How was your Sunday?

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Day 33
Love Completes Each Other
"Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone?"
Ecclesiastes 4:11 KJV

DARE:
Recognize that your spouse is integral to your future success. Let them know today that you desire to include them in your upcoming decisions, and that you need their perspective and counsel. If you have ignored their input in the past, admit your oversight and ask them to forgive you.

What I Did:
We decided that since we can never afford our original wedding china but we do want to have it for our 15th or 20th wedding anniversary, we decided that we would scour ebay for a pattern we can agree on. Since dinnerware collecting has been my thing, I have always made the decisions on it. But now that Charlie's been giving me pointers on how to photograph the table, and which items go together, we consult on it together. Like my latest find in Tuesday Morning, he's known about them since I first saw them and he has encouraged me to wait for the price that we can truly afford. I'm glad I listened...

$1.20; That's It!

In June, Jasmine will be 10 years old, and in our household, birthday #10 is a big deal. That means she gets a pretty big party. So, we asked her for ideas of the kinds of gifts she would want. Believe it or not, it is something I never expected for her to keep wanting since she saw them. But, everytime we went to this particular store, she would ask if we can see them. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

So yesterday morning, I called the store's manager and told him the situation. I expressed that though it is reasonably priced, I can't afford the price they're asking for and if I can be informed of when it'll go on sale, because- my Jasmine really wants it. And if you know her, she rarely set her heart on anything for more than a day, so we knew this was a "sure bet" of a gift for her.

It is originally $30 since we moved here back in June 2007. It has never gone on sale until I inquired. The manager, a sweet, sweet man, gave it to me for $19.96. Not much, right? But this store bought this item for 60 more cents than that so because I needed two, they totaled a profit of only $1.20 off two boxes! I'll take that any day! We picked it up last night and told Jasmine that it's her early birthday present. She still couldn't believe it!

Here's a big clue for you...

Lisa accompanied Daniel to his Swim Banquet last night. I just can't get over how cute they look together... As a mother, I can't be more grateful that she found someone who truly cares about her as much as this young age can muster.

See the House Rules in the background, we are all bound by that, in and out of the house. I made sure to add that bit in... ;-)

TODAY, not much happened... Cleaning, relaxing, laundry and my second set of finals! We also walked to Tuesday Morning and found the same items I've been watching since the start of the month, majorly discounted! Woohoo! Then because it was so windy and cold, I treated the kids to a pizza stop at Cici's. I asked the manager if I can order just 1 child buffet and two adults since Jas and Ian don't eat much, he said he couldn't. There were no other promotions going on and they have a "no sharing policy" meaning, for buffet, it's per person. So knowing I have no choice, I reluctantly ordered. When he told me the total, I couldn't believe it, I was ready to pay the $5 AYCE per person price, but he only charged us less than $12! Charlie picked us up, so we grabbed the items I bought at TM then went home. It was a good day... Ok, now, I have to finish up my final essay...

SIDENOTE: I can't believe that I've managed to do the daily Love Dare! Tonight is Day 32! One more week and I'm done! Another thing to cross off the checklist of "To Do's" this month. Yay!!!

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Day 32
Love Meets Sexual Needs

"Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband."
1 Corinthians 7:3 KJV

DARE:
If at all possible, try to initiate sex with your husband or wife today. Do this in a way that honors what your spouse has told you (or implied to you) about what they need from you sexually. Ask God to make this enjoyable for both of you as well as a path to greater intimacy.

What I Did:
Well, I gotta give you something to guess about, right? ;-)

WE DID IT!!!

We survived on what we have in the house for 10 days! The only things we had to buy were breads, milk and eggs plus bottled water we normally slowly stock up on for the summer. Albertson's were selling 6-packs for 50 cents each! For not spending outside of what we needed, we actually saved over $100!!! With me in school, I've made mistakes of doubling on certain things. The cut off was today, at 5PM, so to announce our victory, Charlie and I treated the kids to their favorite Italian restaurant. No, not expensive at all. A big portion of Chicken Parmesan is only $5.99!

THINGS WE LEARNED:
1. We didn't mind not having TV for 10-days at a time; Ian said, "I like not having TV, we talk more."
2. We didn't miss looking through clearance bins as much as we thought.
3. We became closer, because we played, sang and talked more;
4. We truly love each other and enjoy being together. One visitor said, "your family looks very together". I thank her for seeing that. Jasmine and I love doing tablescapes and Lisa loved coming home knowing there's food in the house. Her friends constantly murmured about not having anything in their house to eat, so they hang out at their friends' instead. She tells them, "I don't have that problem at my house; Daniel pipes in, "She's telling the truth; I love going to her house, her mom makes good food and make it look good, too!"
5. We are truly humbled to know we can be Together Forever and belong to the Lord's true church.

CHARLIE, LISA, JASMINE AND IAN. I LOVE YOU AND THANK YOU FOR GOING THROUGH LIFE WITH ME...

(Now, Charlie's thinking we should go for a whole month! Yikes!)
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Day 31
Love and Marriage
"Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh."
Genesis 2:24 KJV

DARE:
Is there a “leaving” issue you haven’t been brave enough to conquer yet? Confess it to your spouse today, and resolve to make it right. The oneness of your marriage is dependent upon it. Follow this with a commitment to your spouse and to God to make your marriage the top priority over every other human relationship.

What I Did:

I can honestly say that Charlie and I constantly refresh our togetherness by talking about how good we are for each other, and we are very grateful for that fact.

Rain, rain, don't go away...

Today, right after the kids took off, I blogged, commented on some then joined Charlie for some needed sleep (I didn't doze off until a few minutes before 6 a.m.). After making sure that my kids were awake, fed and ready to catch the bus, I started to question if I should stay up or go back to sleep. Sleep won...

When I woke up at almost noon, it was so dark that I thought I imagined the whole thing, but when I saw Charlie, it dawned on me that maybe, it's raining again outside. Just at that moment, an intense rumble hovered over the complex. I got up to verify that it is raining.

I was so glad the kids needed a ride home since it was Chess Club today, so they didn't get wet too much. Whew! For me, the first thing I did when I saw it was raining, was open up the drier window and let the cool air in. It was quite refreshing! But alas, it was gone in a few hours... In its wake, it left our clearing wet and refreshed. The air crisp and cool...

It was a good day; Ian and Jas got good behavior stamps, Lisa needed to be picked up from Choir again, and she didn't have much homework but type up some terminology for US History. Since we still do not have access to our TV until Thursday night, the quiet of the kids reading was almost heavenly. I love quiet days...

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Day 30
Love Brings Unity

"And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be bone, as we are."
John 17:11 KJV

DARE:
Isolate one area of division in your marriage, and look on today as a fresh opportunity to pray about it. Ask the Lord to reveal anything in your own heart that is threatening oneness with your spouse. Pray that He would do the same for them. And if appropriate, discuss this matter openly, seeking God for unity.

What I Did:
Of course, when you're a zombie like me, remembering that you have other parts of the house you need to clean sometimes, don't. Charlie told me on Day 3 that he wished I did more housework. I think it's because since Lisa's chores are the dishes and she doesn't do it well, we are conflicted on if I need to take over or not. So, lately, I've been impressing on Lisa that dishes come first as we need clean dishes and spoons to eat with and I've also been reteaching her how to rinse and stack if she does need to delay doing the dishes so that there are no "surprises" at the bottom of both of our sinks. We have discussed it and through prayers, I've decided that teaching Lisa to find other acceptable ways to do the dishes is the best compromise. They get done, she gets to keep her phone, and Charlie doesn't complain about the dishes...

Back to School, Back to Normal...

Today is Day 7 of our "Being Self-Reliant" family project. Yes, we lasted one whole week!!!

Not much happened today except that Spring Break is officially over! Today, since Charlie was off, he let me sleep in while he took the kids to school and then stocked up on some water. After about 8:45, he took off again for his doctor's appointment and dropped off some lunch money for the little ones' account at school. Don't I have a wonderful husband? YES, I DO!

Also, today, to distract me from my own aching back and grieving for Crystal's loss, Charlie agreed to have me browse the Housewares aisles in one of the nearby Goodwill Store. I didn't buy anything; as we are still on our family project of needs only... Was I sad, only a little because there wasn't much to salivate over.

Charlie and I shared some leftover lasagna then went back out to stock up on more water. Albertson's near us was selling 6-packs of Deja Blue bottled waters for 50 cents each! Since we stock up on water for Summer, this fell under the NEEDS category!

We also walked to the bus stop to meet Ian then turned around and picked up Jasmine from Choir practice. After Lisa got home, Ian and Jas were finishing up their homeworks and snacks.

Then we decided on an inexpensive dinner: Spaghetti with sausage, garlic bread and ice water. Remember, we are on "whatever's in the house" way of living, and since they are full on eating lettuce, peas and corn as veggies, then I didn't mind forgoing some tonight.

As before, I make our meager dinner interesting by setting a nice plate. I'm loving these striped dinnerware more and more, I already got my money's worth in so many different settings I tried with it.

Here's the spaghetti! This is Charlie's plate. I added the only Robin Egg's blue plate my MIL gave me to add height to the setting. He took this picture; he had the glass height changed so he can take this beautiful shot. Our dinner, $0, ice water, $0, knowing everyone loved it, PRICELESS...


Family Home Evening Activity: We played Jenga and learned about taking turns and patience.

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Day 28

Love Others Like God Loves You

"Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren."

1 John 3:16 KJV

Dare:

Purpose to do what you can to meet the greatest need in your spouse's life right now.

What I Did:

Charlie has a very strenuous line of work and often comes home very exhausted. So, to recognize that, I offer massages and have been finding ways to cook the foods he loves.

Friday Catch up Today

Yesterday was a little distracting for me; finding out that my friend Crystal is hurting made me weak and foggy all day. Crystal was one of my former Visiting Teachers and she was one of the "good" ones. She loved learning about me and my family while she also filled my home with the love she felt for her growing family. It was always a treat to see her and finding out she has a blog was an unbelievable luck on my part. I loved reading all of her posts and the fun and love she infuses in each. She loves to make things herself and is a great student of all things fun! I've only been in her home once in AZ in the campus housing we were at and just like me, she made it a home even though she knew it would be temporary. I just love that about her. I hope she knows that her examples are still with me today and I use her genuine love of her VT sisters in my own visits to the ladies I get to meet.

And since Friday is our "lax" day, we walked to different stores and just "looked" at the clearance items they have. It satisfied our (ok mine...) curiosity for things we are not buying. We did have to buy Ian some band-aids because of a blister from his flip-flops.

Lunch was again just leftovers, we washed some more clothes and went down to our church building and cleaned it as a family. Good thing it was Spring Break; it was left fairly clean so we managed to clean up all by ourselves.

Dinner was almost at 9pm since we still had to do a quick milk and eggs run. Hubby refilled the van with gas just before work and finished what we had to do.

I'll post on what we did today, a little later...

Day 25

Love Forgives

"To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ;"

2 Corinthians 2:10 KJV

DARE:
Whatever you haven’t forgiven in your mate, forgive it today. Let it go. Just as we ask Jesus to “forgive us our debts” each day, we must ask Him to help us “forgive our debtors” each day as well. Unforgiveness has been keeping you and your spouse in prison too long. Say from your heart, “I choose to forgive.”

What I Did:

Charlie normally is so quiet, I couldn't read him most times. And when I react, he doesn't understand why. So yesterday, I realized that I should just leave him alone after I try to get his attention three times.

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Day 26

Love is Responsible

"Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things."

Romans 2:1 KJV

DARE:
Take time to pray through your areas of wrongdoing. Ask for God’s forgiveness, then humble yourself enough to admit them to your spouse. Do it sincerely and truthfully. Ask your spouse for forgiveness as well. No matter how they respond, make sure you cover your responsibility in love. Even if they respond with criticism, accept it by receiving it as counsel.

What I Did:

I actually did this yesterday, but I'll do it again...

Featuring... Cece & Dexter!

So it's Day 3 of our Spring Break family project. So far, so good... We've been having fun using up lots of eggs and milk, but hopefully, we have enough.

Today, we woke up hungry for some muffins. In our pantry, we found this!
So we quickly preheated the oven to 350, made the batter then set the table while we waited. We also found some maple bacon in one of the crispers, so we made that and breakfast looked like...

This!!! Isn't it yummy enough to power up your day? It was to us and we got a lot done!

While we washed dishes, did a few loads of laundry, cleaned the living room and vacuumed the floor, we decided that Dexter, our very cute and tenacious cockatiel, should be free for today, so we let him out of his cage. After a few practice landings on each of our heads, he settled on top of his cage long enough for me to snap this great shot.

Then Cece, our diva of a cat, got some pampering from Lisa by being handfed her snack. She's a pickier eater than Jasmine! We have to buy her different brands almost regularly!

Ian and Jasmine took this cute shot while they are drawing different random things on paper since no one's out yet to play.

Just before lunch, I decided to get a headstart on dinner by using the crock pot my MIL gave me the last time they were over for Christmas in Mesa, AZ with us. "Look Mom, I'm using it for the 7th time now. Aren't you proud of me?" LOL

We decided to have fun at lunch and use our "ZooPals" look-alike plastic plates! I got the Pinky the Pig.
We passed the time with music, dancing, taking showers, more dishwashing and laundry. We also baked some cookies I call, "Chocolate Chocolate Chip". They are so chocolatey, you have to say it twice! ;-)

Then, I realized that I can do an Asian night with what's in the crockpot. So Lisa made rice and I made Oriental Nido Soup with eggs and lobster balls. We had bbq beef ribs, so tender, it became pulled beef ribs!
Doesn't everything look delicious and in the spirit of being frugal, I refreshed last Friday's bouquet by using one of the good agapanthus stems and simulated a Japanese way of floral arrangement called Ikebana.
Then, right after dinner, I remembered that I received my winnings from a fellow blogger and tablescaper, Robyn. So we opened it and look at this cute shade! I love it!

This beautiful "Ball" Jar lamp and "foil" chicks will be featured again in Jasmine's birthday dinner party soon! She loves them as much as I do! Thank you, Robyn!
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Day 24

Love vs. Lust

"And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever."

1 John 2:17 KJV

DARE:
End it now. Identify every object of lust in your life and remove it. Single out every lie you’ve swallowed in pursuing forbidden pleasure and reject it. Lust cannot be allowed to live in a back bedroom. It must be killed and destroyed—today—and replaced with the sure promises of God and a heart filled with His perfect love.

What I Did:

Since I love tablescaping, I've really been salivating over different plates, but since we started this 10-day "Self-Reliance" project, the desire is not as strong to spend time looking at different dishes. A definite blessing; I find more time for my family!

Thanks for joining us on our adventure today!