Even When They Mess Up...

I still LOVE CVS!Ok, let me just go ahead and give you this disclaimer...when you see my total out of pocket, it is larger than $5; however, this is because CVS messed up, not me. My total should have been just cents over $5. Thanks a lot, CVS! I'm hoping to get everything cleared up tomorrow. In the meantime, check out my scenarios for some great deals!
Transaction #1:
2 Cover Girl Lip colors B1G1 Free $3.99
Lamisil 7.59
Lamisilk 8.29
Coupons:
CVS $2/$10 purchase
$4 off Lamisil SS 7/20
$3 off Lamisilk SS 7/20
2 $1/1 Cover girl products P&G August
ECBs used: $7.79
Total OOP (tax included) = $1.99
Spent $1.99 and Saved $22.78!!! I also earned $10 in ECBs.

Transaction #2:
CVS Cotton Swabs $1.50
2 Huggies Pull Ups $17.98
Coupons:
$2/$10 CVS coupon
$2 off CVS skincare coupon
2 $2 off Huggies Pull ups
ECB's Used: $10 earned in first transaction
Total OOP (tax included) = $1.97
I spent $1.97 and saved $26.49!!!

Transaction #3:
CVS Cotton Swabs $1.50
Johnson & Johnson shampoo $2.99
Johnson & Johnson lotion $2.99
2 Covergirl Lip color B1G1 $3.99
Spree .50 (Had to get in order to use ECBs and to total out correctly)
Mentos .50 (see above explanation)
Coupons Used:
$2/$10 CVS coupon
$2 off CVS skincare
2 $1 off Cover girl products
$1 off Johnsons shampoo
$1 off Johnsons lotion
ECBs used: $4
Total OOP: $.87
I spent $.87 and saved $19.66!!!
(I should have earned $5 ECBs by buying $25 worth of select baby products. CVS messed up, and I didn't get my ECBs).

Ok, I have a transaction #4. I know this is breaking the rules (of the CVS $5 challenge; I'm only supposed to do 3 transactions), but my good friend, Emily (who works at CVS), gave me a coupon and told me about this deal, so I HAD to do it ;):
Skin Effects Foaming Face Wash 6.99
Coupons Used:
$2 off Skin Effects CVS
Total OOP: $5.44. I earned $5 in ECBs.

This is where the mistake came. I should have been able to use the $5 ECBs that I was supposed to earn by buying $25 worth of baby products. However, CVS messed up, and my receipts were all different. Long story short, I didn't get my ECBs and have to call corporate to straighten it out. Thanks, CVS! Anyway, so I paid for this out of pocket and earned $5 ECBs. Basically, this facewash was FREE, but since I didn't get my ECBs from the previous transaction, I couldn't get roll them to get this without spending money oop. Oh well. Once I get my other ECBs, I'll have $10 in ECBs, which is still good. It was just incredibly frustrating. I could have waited to get my other ECBs, but I don't plan to go back to CVS this week. One trip is enough for me this week. I'm sure their workers think so too.

I shouldn't complain about CVS. I've been very fortunate there. So this, THANK YOU, CVS, is from my heart! I really do love you, CVS!

So on today's trip, I spent a total of $10.27 and saved $60.93!!! For those of you who want to do these transactions: provided CVS doesn't mess up, you should be able to get all this for $5.27!!! That's pretty great, right?! Go for it!!!

Check out Alyssa's blog and the CVS $5 Challenge for more great deals!

Since We're on the Subject of The Gym...

I thought I would point out some of the styles I notice at the gym. There are SO many! You have the basic t-shirt and shorts. Then you have the sports bra and tight bicycle shorts (definitely not my thing, nor is it my favorite thing to see in the gym. I mean, some people {like myself} just don't belong in that kind of attire, and those that are built for it, is it really necessary? I mean, really?). You also have those who are totally dedicated...the running shorts with bicycle shorts underneath, with the tight sleeveless workout shirt, gloves, and belt. Now that's dedication. There are many others, but I have to say that my favorite style is often worn by elderly women. I saw one today, in fact. She was working out on the machines while wearing her nice khaki pants, pretty button up shirt, long necklaces, earrings, and slip on shoes. She looked quite lovely, but I don't know if I would classify her attire as workout clothing. Yet she didn't let it stop her. She was hitting the weights and looking quite fashionable. :)

So I wonder, one day when I'm 75, will I be in the gym wearing my black pants and sweater? Of course, I'll have to make sure I have the right accessories! Who knows? Hey, I guess the most important thing is that I'm in the gym. You know what?! Maybe I'll make my bicycle shorts debut when I hit 70. Man! I'm sure everyone will LOVE it!

Help Me Understand

Ok, so I don't get it. Why do people have to talk on their phones at the gym? I honestly and truly do not understand. Who are you people talking to? Is it really that pressing? I'm not asking because it bothers me or disturbs my workout, I just really don't understand it. Every time I'm in the gym, I see at least five people talking or texting on their cell phones. It baffles me. I mean, I just want to get in, get focused on my workout, feel the burn, and get out. I don't want to talk to anyone while I'm huffing it on the eliptical trainer...I really don't. How can you carry on a conversation when sweat is running down your face, and you're breathing all heavy?

I'm guessing these "gym phone addicts" are probably people who are never without their cell phones. Maybe that's why I don't understand this phenomenon. I'm not huge on the cell phone. I have one but often forget it or lose it. I'm not big on phones in general, so I guess that's why I would never consider taking my cell phone into the gym.

Anyway, I just got home from the gym and had this on my mind. If you're a gym phone addict, please fill me in. Enlighten me, if you will. I want to understand.

Thank you!

I want to sincerely thank you all for your prayers, support and encouragement in the loss of my grandmother. It hasn't been easy, but your support and prayers, coupled with my faith in God and His plan, have lifted me from a place of discouragement and guilt to a place of hope. I don't know how or why this could have happened, but I am trusting God that something good will come of this. I am praying and believing God for some "lost" family members and hope that I can use this tragedy to reach them for Christ. Please pray for me as I strive to do this. It doesn't come easily to me.

As I said in my last post, my grandmother's death has put things in perspective for me. Life is too short to take those I love for granted. I do that far too often. I pray that as Psalm 90:12 says, that God will teach me how short our lives are so that I may be wise. I feel like I'm one step closer but still have a ways to go. I want to treat those I love outwardly with the love I feel for them inwardly. I want to let go of my inhibitions and to share my feelings without fear of rejection, ridicule, or embarrassment. I want to love the way that Christ loves me. I want to be a shining example of Christ's love. I want people to see Him in me.

Tuesday, I was convicted as I was wrapping up a situation with Tristan. I was at the office and had been forced to discipline Tristan for an act of disobedience and disrespect to one of our patients, someone who loves him very much and always does so much for him. Tristan treated this super sweet lady with disrespect, so I sent him to time out to reflect on what he'd done. After his time was up, I went in to the room and talked with him about why what he did was wrong. I explained to him about how the Bible says we need to honor our elders, and that he had dishonored her. I told him that the next time she was in, he would need to apologize and ask her to forgive him (based on principles I learned from the Ezzos in Growing Kids God's Way). He agreed, and we moved on.

As we left the room, one of our patients, who had overheard the conversation, told me that I was "anointed" with my children and how I handle them. I immediately told her that I was not, but she insisted. As she was walking out the door, she said, "No, you are. You are anointed in how you handle your children. Everyone is not as patient as you are." Then she left...before I could convince her that she had the wrong person. You see, I'm NOT anointed in that area. I SO wish I was. I am often impatient with my kids. I take them for granted. I allow myself to get frustrated with them and forget that they're only small once. I remember this fact every night as I look over them while they sleep.

I say all this to say, I do not make the most of my days. I have work to do!!! I pray that God will continually teach me how short my life is. I want to make the most of the time I have here. I pray that when all is said and done, and I enter His presence, I will hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant." (Matthew 25:23)

Don't Put Off Until Tomorrow...

It's been a hard couple of days. Yesterday morning, as I was rushing to get ready for church, my phone rang. It was my mom, and I almost didn't answer because I was in such a hurry. For some reason, though, I had a feeling I should pick it up. So I did. What I heard was such a devastating shock, I didn't know what to say or do. She told me that my grandmother had died in a house fire. She said that on Friday, she saw a story about a house fire on Deese Road that left a woman dead. She immediately called the Fire Department and expressed her concern that her children's grandmother lived on that street and wanted to be see if it was her. The dispatcher asked for my grandmother's address, my mom gave it to her, and the woman told her, "You're ok."

My mom was still concerned but felt some reassurance from the dispatcher. Then, she saw it in the paper on Sunday morning. It was then that she realized that it was indeed my grandmother. That's when she called me.
After I heard the news and got off the phone, I was in such shock. This couldn't be. She couldn't be gone, not in a house fire. I hadn't even gotten to see her since she'd come back; to introduce her to my husband, my kids. My sweet Grandma Jan. My Grandma Jan who had always fixed me raisin toast, who invented my favorite drink...the slurprise. My Grandma Jan who loved to sing, hum, and play the organ. My grandmother who loved to work in her yard and would always come pick up my brother and me and take us to do fun things. Grandma Jan who would pierce my ears over and over because she always thought that the holes had closed. My dear sweet Grandma Jan who strongly believed in natural health and LOVED Melaleuca...way back before anyone knew what that stuff was.

Although I haven't seen her in about 15 years, I can hear her voice as clearly as my own. It seems like I just saw her yesterday. I can hear her singing, I can see her crying because of the broken relationship between her son and his kids. I can hear her laugh. I can see her putting on her lipstick and pinning up her pretty blonde hair. I can hear the stories she used to tell of how poor her parents were and all the trials they went through as she was growing up. I can see her so clearly, I can hear her voice as if she were in the room.

Yet she's not. I'll never see her again, and that absolutely breaks my heart. I'm broken-hearted that I'll never be able to introduce Channing and my boys to the grandmother who meant so much to me as a child. She was the only contact I had with my birth father's side of the family. Despite the lack of relationship with him, my brother and I had a strong relationship with Grandma Jan. She loved us so much and made sure we knew it. She desperately wanted us to have a relationship with her son, but for many reasons, it wasn't something I was interested in.

And now that she's gone, I have no one on that side of my family. I can't even begin to explain how that feels. There's just such an emptiness and sadness. My heart aches. I am filled with guilt that I never went to see her once she came back from Nebraska. You see, she left our hometown for Nebraska when I was in school. Her parents (my great-grandparents) lived in Nebraska and were in very poor health. She moved up there to take care of them. She spent many years there. While there, she suffered a nervous breakdown and was never again the same. She moved back but wasn't in good health. She just never recovered from the breakdown she had.

The fire started in the kitchen. Although they are investigating, they think it was caused by lightning. It was an afternoon fire, and we're not sure why she was unable to get out, but we think she may have been trying to put the fire out.

My grandmother was beautiful. I often compared her to Zsa Zsa Gabore. She wasn't your typical grandma. She was eclectic and fun. She had such a beautiful voice and a loving heart. I will miss her so. I so wish my boys had been able to meet her. I will make sure to tell them all about her and how much she would have loved them.

If I have learned anything from this situation, it's this...

Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today. Just two days before this happened, I was thinking about Grandma Jan and how I was going to take the boys to her house the next time I was in Ozark. Now I know that I will never be given that chance. How I wish I had done it the last time I was there! What I wouldn't give to relive that weekend. From what I've heard from one of my uncles, it wouldn't have been good to visit. She was really doing bad. Still, I wish I had. Just to see her one last time...what I wouldn't give...

Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today. Make sure your family knows that you love them. You never know how much time you'll have them with you. Life is so short and can be lost in an instant.

The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Psalm 147:3

He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain...Revelation 21:4

Dog Daze

On Saturday, we spent a LONG, hot day out at Trussville's Dog Daze Festival. Let me tell you, dog daze of summer doesn't come remotely close to explaining that heat. It was AWFUL! I told Channing I think our family sweated out all our toxins. His dad said we all probably lost about five pounds by sweating alone. Speaking of his dad, PaPa was a HUGE help. I don't know what the boys and I would have done without him.

As we were packing up to leave, the news came over and asked for an interview from the nation's top chiropractor...my hubby, of course! Check him out:

CHANNING ON THE NEWS

In case you couldn't tell from his accent, he was born in raised in the south. :)

My Summer Favorite

I LOVE this show! I really really do. It is definitely my summer favorite. I don't get to watch every show (I often forget it's on, plus we work late a lot), but whenever I'm able to watch it, it brings me so much joy. I mean, who knew America had such talent?!

Anyway, over the past month or so, I have had many favorites. I wish I had been keeping up with them. Since I haven't, I'm just going to start with my favorites from this week. Here they are:

This guy was an Ozzy Osbourne impersonator, and he was a dead ringer! He looked and sounded exactly like Ozzy! Check him out:



My other favorite this week was American soldier, Daniel Jens. He made me cry. I guess because he's been out fighting for our country, something I think many of us take for granted. His wife was without him for 15 months, and seeing the pride she has in him makes me want to cry all over again. Check him out:



If you haven't watched the show, check it out. It's a great hour of t.v. filled with many inspiring stories. I'll be sharing my favorites each week. I'm sure you can hardly wait!