My brain is tired.

I can't for the life of me think of a title for this blog. In fact, now I'm wondering why I even started it. :)

Yesterday was a cool day. We spent the morning hanging out with my friend Kim & her girls and had a blast! The Lord blessed me through her by her letting me borrow her bassinet, which we needed for our upcoming little girl--something I had just prayed about needing and was hoping we could borrow instead of buy...God is so good!

Then, a nap. Joy of joys! I love my naps at this stage in the pregnancy since I'm starting to get tired again. I checked my email after my nap & discovered that I had won a contest at Debt Proof Living. I won an entire case of Soilove, a laundry soap that I have always wanted but it's only sold online or out West. The shipping was expensive so I never tried it--now I have my very own case! The coolest thing was that the day before yesterday I thought to myself how cool it would be to have that soap since Marc gets his UPS clothes so dirty (this soap is supposed to be awesome at removing all kinds of stains--I'll keep you posted!).

Today, also a good day, but for different reasons. We got paid a day early due to tomorrow's holiday, always cool. I paid the bills using my new Dave Ramsey Total Money Makeover budget guidelines, which made paying the bills super easy since every penny had been accounted for ahead of time. Then, Z & I got ready, went to the ATM & withdrew our $100 grocery-&-everything-else money for the next 2 weeks & went shopping.

Z did SO good today and I was so blessed by this, since I usually undertake a shopping marathon once every 2 wks. We went to Sav-a-lot, Walgreens, post office, bread outlet store, Walmart, & Kroger. We did have a slight detour at Walmart...as I'm checking out, I realize I have no idea where my keys are (thought I put them in my pocket). They're not in my purse, not at customer service, no one dropped them off at the front door. Begin freaking out over lost keys at lunchtime with a full cart of groceries, including Z's favorite popsicles. Push buggy out to car to discover my keys lying on the front seat--no idea how that happened.

Call super awesome husband, who rushes over from work on his lunch break to unlock my car so we can finish shopping & go home. I mean, it was awesome how fast he got there! I went back into Walmart to wait for him & Z & I shared a popsicle, so all was good. A stressful situation turned calm instantly. Z said when we finally got in the car..."I had fun at Walmart today, Mommy." He's such a goofball!

Got home & unloaded a ridiculous amount of food & diapers & stuff...this is the hardest part of the experience, bringing the stuff up my hill of death, making 15 trips by myself with this huge belly & no one to help me. I figure I need exercise anyway, right?

The coolest part of the day & what I am most proud of (although I can't take credit as I prayed for help planning & shopping) was that I *almost* stayed within the $100 I withdrew. I had a little math error at the last store so I was $2.10 over but I'm pretty proud of this. This $100 includes all meals & snacks for the next 2 wks, plus diapers, mousse, conditioner, razors, and a few fun treats. I have to tell you, I really didn't think I could do it. Next trip I'm going to try to be under the $100 so we'll see how I do...planning my meals ahead of time makes a big difference and has helped us save so much money.

When I think of the fact that until we moved here I had absolutely no idea what I spent on groceries & everything else at Walmart, Target, etc....it blows my mind. We sure do wish we would have been more frugal on 2 incomes so that maybe we wouldn't have to be quite as frugal with 1 income. Lesson learned, the hard way. As lessons are often learned.

I'm reading an "end of the world" Christian based novel this week, and reflecting on the freedoms that the Americans in my book lost and what freedoms I still enjoy (although it sure seems like some of them may not be around forever)....I am so thankful for the forefathers of our country & their focus on God. They set the stage for the freedoms we enjoy today.

Happy 4th of July, everyone!