The Christmas Season

I absolutely love this time of year!! This is one of my favorite seasons, and no I don't mean winter. LOL!! I mean The Christmas Season. I love how we can celebrate the birth of our Lord and how we can share the love He had for us with others. I also love how there are so many opportunities to give back to those around us, not that there aren't those the rest of the year, There are so many more available now. Plus I'll admit it, I love being able to sneak in a few surprises here and there for people I know and love. One of those little surprise recently was a free scrapbook I was able to make for my Mom through Shutterfly. They had a special offer for a free 20 page scrapbook and free shipping. The small book ended up so sweet and my Mom just loved it!! It was a blessing to both of us. I was able to give her something she will cherish and the Lord provided it for me free!! Thanks Shutterfly!!!

Another surprise I was able to give was to one of my dearest friends. I found out her husband loves beef jerky and especially Jack's Links. Well they are having an instant win game right now and one of the prizes was some beef jerky. I have been playing the game for a while in hopes I would be able to win him some, and today I was able to!! I can't wait for it to arrive in the mail. Here is a picture of the winning message I got. I know he will be surprised and again the Lord provided a way for me to be able to bless someone else without hurting my pocketbook! Thank you Lord!!

He has also provided ways for me to entertain friends and our church family uniquely. There are several companies out there that have, well, product testing/introduction parties. One of them is House Party. You apply to them for specific events on specific dates and if you are chosen they send you all the product you need, extra gifts and goodies to hand out to your guests, coupons for the products and extra special gifts for you as the hostess (and sometimes cash like from one company I just worked with called Child's Play Communications. They just sent me a check for $40 for hosting a Fuzzoodle Fiesta Party!!)

Some of the parties I have hosted have featured Febreeze, Splenda, Fuzzoodles, Kool Aid, Maxwell House International Coffee and Nilla Wafers. I can't tell you how much fun these parties are. The ladies of the church have had so much fun at them and have really enjoyed the goodies and the coupons. And for little to no money I was able to have a great time of fellowship with them!!

Here are a couple of photos form some of the parties I have had.
Believe it or not, but those yummy looking chocolate things are 2 Nilla Wafers sandwiched together with peanut butter and then dipped in chocolate and then drizzled with white chocolate. Oh my goodness they were good!!



Here are a few ladies getting some of the yummy food we had at one of the parties. We often have full meals and make a really fun night out of the parties.










The picture to the left is from the Fuzzoodle Fiesta Party. The kids had a blast playing with those fun toys and creating all kinds of creatures.

You might be wondering why I am telling you about this. Well it's simple, I'm broke. Yep, the economy is really rough right now (understatement I know!!) and we are really struggling to make ends meet some days. I'm not complaining by any means. I'm just stating a fact, and I know I am not alone. There are many who are going through this right now, but it doesn't mean we have to stop giving and sharing with others. If you spend a little energy and time you can find ways to share and give and really enjoy even with little to no money!! You just have to put the effort into it, and believe me it is well worth it.

God said He would provide our every need. He even said He would provide the desires of our hearts. If the desires of our hearts are what they are supposed to be we will go out of our way to show the love of God to others AND He will provide a way for us to do so no matter what our financial circumstances are. I am so glad I serve such an awesome God!!

I hope you are able to give above and beyond this Christmas Season!

Been a few days since I posted, but I keep forgetting to come by. Ugh!! We are digging out from our snow storm. We have 2 feet in our yard in most spots, that is where we don't have 5 foot drifts! It's been a very long, long weekend here. And more snow is on the way. Although now we are in a nasty cold snap. Brrrrrr!

God has been providing even more for my family. I have been surprised at how He has helped us make ends meet. One simple way is through some of the blogs I visit. There are a lot of very dedicated women out there (and a few men!) who help find all kinds of awesome deals and savings all over the Internet. One of them is having a great giveaway right now. It's The Freebie Junkie. I love her blog!!! You can sign up to win a free bottle of Mrs. Butterworth's Syrup. They have limited edition bottles out for Christmas. I've signed up and hope you do too. I've actually been shocked at the number of times I have won different things from different blogs (including The Freebie Junkie).

Another way has been by agreeing to test products for different companies and to share with people face to face I know. Florida's Natural OJ is one of them. I received a coupon for a free carton and coupons to share with friends. It's a lot of fun to be able to do that and it is helping our family make ends meet!!

In the future I'll try and list some of the blogs I have been going to. Several have really helped me in this adventure of helping stretch Rick's paycheck as far as I can!!

Just wanted to share a quick post with you. I found a really neat site that is part of how I am saving a lot of money shopping for gifts! It's called What's Cheap Today . Each day the bargains are different and are shared from shoppers all over the country. It's fun to see what is new and what great deal you can get. I learned about the site from joining as a Bzzz Agent. To learn more about that go to the home page here: BzzzAgent

I hope you get a chance to check out What's Cheap Today! it really does help you save a lot of money and it is fun to compare the different things that are on sale. Have fun shopping, I know I will.

Good Morning!

It's very early here in cold and wintry Indiana!! I'm not sure how cold the temp is because I couldn't see the thermometer. It's still too dark out. But I do know it is cold enough the dogs couldn't wait to get back inside!! I think their feet were chilly. The snow is falling as I write this. Winter is really here now.

Yesterday was an interesting day for me. It started out kind of off kilter when I woke up with a horrible migraine. But as the day went along things progressively got better. I love when the Lord does that for us! By mid afternoon I had some fun opening the mail. I love getting the mail!! I never know what lovely fun surprises I will find there from samples & coupons I have sent away for, to prizes I have won in contests, even to full-size products I get to test and keep. Oooh, or the wonderful bargains I find to buy for little to nothing.

Well the mail proved to be very humorous to me. There stacked up in my pile were 23 little envelopes all the same size and all from the same company. I just looked at it and giggled. A while back I was having fun playing an instant win game that was sponsored by Sobe. I won some flip flops that are too stinkin cute, a t-shirt that I shared in one of my Operation Christmas Child Shoe boxes, and a sports jacket. I also won a whole lot of free bottles of Sobe. You could only win one at a time and each coupon for the free bottle came separately. So sitting there in my stack of mail were 23 free Sobe coupons. Here is a picture of them after I got them all opened up.

The really funny thing was that each and every one of those coupons expired the same day I got them in the mail. So Jason and I went to the sotre and the head cashier was kind enough to let us purchase all 23 in one transaction. I wish I had taken a picture of the faces of a few people who were watching the whole thing. It was very comical! But I am thanking the Lord that He got the coupons to me in time to use them. Jason is very fond of some of the flavors they have, so that is even more of a blessing.

Before the day was over the Lord even surprised me more with some fun instant win game wins. Boy that's a mouthful! I won a bag of Halls Cough Drops, a box of Mike's & Ike's, and a box of Hot Tamales! So some more goodies to look forward to in the mail.

I am so grateful to the Lord for how He is providing for our family now. Have to admit it is extremely creative and unusual, but I am not going to complain. Neither is my husband when I get to take him out to lunch this week to Olive Garden with the $25 gift card I earned for doing some surveys.

I hope your day is filled with blessings and joy! I know mine will be!