Special Update for Life: Frugal and Simple

This episode gives the current status of Life: Frugal and Simple, no we're not going away!

There have been some changes to our RSS feed and we are still trying to sort it all out. Our hosting provider is shutting down and we have had about 5 days to get it moved and it is not an easy task. I hope that we will not loose any viewers in the process either by accident or frustration. If you use iTunes you may get the old shows showing as new. If you have a friend who gets the show from Podango's RSS feed please give them the new feed.

http://feeds.feedburner.com/lifefrugalandsimple

If all goes well we will have a new show Saturday the 3rd of January!!!

Merry Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas Day! This was our third Christmas together as husband and wife but our first Christmas alone. The first year we went to John David's parents, last year we went to my parents, and this year it was just us! I know to some that probably seems lonely and horrible but we had a wonderful day together!

We slept in until 10:30 and didn't feel a bit guilty about it at all! Then John David cooked breakfast which was amazing!

My ham biscuit with hash browns

John David's ham, biscuit, hash browns, and egg

Our beautiful Christmas tree! Bobby, Katie, and Nathan Burns bought us this tree because we didn't have a Christmas tree and weren't going to have one because we were moving! It is a beautiful tree that we will use for years to come!!

Then we took pictures of the puppy in front of the tree!

And then pictures of each other, they are typical Christmas morning photos!

And took a "family" picture:

Then we opened presents, we each had a gift from my parents to open this morning! We decided not to purchase each other anything because we just purchased a home and got a new puppy and because we have been going to Lowe's several times a week and purchasing things for our home so we have bought plenty of gifts! And also when you move you realize how much stuff you have and how you don't need anything! (I somewhat jokingly told John David earlier this week I was boycotting Christmas gifts!!)

This evening we went to the Simmerman's for dinner which was wonderful! We were able to visit with them and share excitement of children on Christmas and then we visited the Maupin's and played with their kids too! We are so thankful for the good friends God has blessed us with here! I told John David a few minutes after we got home that it is so great to have good friends to share special days with when family is so far away!

Home Update

It has been a crazy few weeks. We have been working on the house almost 3 weeks and are tired but things are coming together and we are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel!

We officially moved Saturday and turned in our apartment keys Sunday!! We spent our very first night in our new home on Saturday night! Sunday after church we started slowly putting things where they go.

Here is what my living room looked like:

It's looks much better now, there are still a few things out of place but we are getting there. We still have to paint trim, windows, and doors in every room so that has slowed us down! The master bedroom is 90% finished so we have a "sanctuary" in an otherwise chaotic home!

Moving so close to Christmas has also has not been fun, Sunday my parents spent the night on their way to visit my dad's parents and they were here amidst the chaos! We even put my mom to work! Our Christmas was pretty relaxing, we slept in until 10:30 without feeling guilty but we still did some work! Next Christmas will hopefully be a lot different and less crazy!

Our first picture in our new home!

As we finish getting each room organized and decorated I plan to post before and after pictures so you can have a grand tour of our home!! So stay posted for those photos!!

Winter Wonderland

Two weeks ago while we were painting and doing repairs it snowed several inches. We finished up our painting for the night and headed back to our apartment in a winter wonderland. Thankfully the highway had been salted and there was no risk in driving home! When we arrived back at the house the next morning, the house was beautiful! I had to take a picture of the snow!!

Changes

Changes are taking place in our family and they are exciting changes!!!

Last week, John David and I purchased our first home, a 3 bedroom, 2 bath 1500 square foot home with a basement and an amazing kitchen for filming Life:Frugal and Simple cooking shows! We have spent the last week painting. We have painted every room in the house, the ceilings in the master, and are now working on getting all the trim painted. Today we had our carpets cleaned and they look amazing! We are planning on moving in officially on Saturday!! I will be posting more pictures of the house and the improvements we have made once we get settled in our new home...that we own!!!

The other news, John David left Farm Credit today. He will be starting a job as Media Director at our church on January 1!!! We are so excited because God has given John David the desire of his heart, to use media to His glory!! I am so excited and so is John David about our future with our wonderful church family!!!

So, since John David is without work for 2 weeks, we have a Christmas break again this year :) Isn't that a positive way to look at 2 weeks without an income? We definitely have plenty of work to do and we will enjoy spending some quality time together over the holidays!! And, we know that God will take care of us these next 2 weeks, all our bills will be paid, and the freezer is fully stocked!!

Car Repairs

Yesterday we had to have John David's truck repaired, the clutch went out and to fix it, the shop had to lift out his transmission which equaled to a bill over $350...no fun at all!!

However, we can still praise God in this situation because this is the first time in 2 1/2 years of marriage that we have had to put one of our vehicles in the shop (and we drive older vehicles). We also had the money available to cover it; when I started working in October, I started taking out a percentage of my earnings for a car savings account because our vehicles are getting older. That money funded most of the bill and the rest we were able to cover from our checking without having to dip into our emergency fund! God is so good and faithful and blesses us so much!

We're Getting A Puppy

John David and I are getting a puppy in a few weeks! He is a precious Yorkie-Poo that my sister has and since she has another dog and is moving back home she needed a new home for this precious puppy!

Here he is:

Isn't he just a little doll??

Rebekah named him Rebel but we are going to name him Mac since we love our Macs and could never name our children after our computers :) But Mac is great for a puppy!

He will be joining us December 22 and we are very excited about our new addition!!

(These pictures are from Thanksgiving...we didn't take a picture together we just took pictures with the dog!)

Menu Plan Monday

This is going to be a very busy week for us so my plan is quick and easy meals so we won't be tempted to pick up fast food or order a pizza! I know this isn't the most healthy menu, but it is better than unhealthy, greasy, food out!!

Here is the plan for lunches & dinner for the coming week:

Turkey Sandwiches x 2
Pimento Cheese Sandwiches x 2
Homemade Frozen Pizza
Hot Pockets x 2
Corn Dogs x 2
Frozen Pizza x 2
Bean, Cheese, & Salsa Nachos
Chili (Frozen Homemade Chili!)

I have found that having some "convenience" foods on hand saves me money because we won't go grab something. I knew this was going to be a busy week so I prepared by freezing pizza and chili and picking up lunch meat, pimento cheese, hot pockets, and corn dogs!

The Best Meatloaf

Last night we had meatloaf for dinner! This is one of our favorite meals which is quite funny because meatloaf was on my list of most hated meals (along with tuna patties) as a child!

This is John David's mom's recipe, Sweet and Sour Meatloaf, and it is delicious.


Yummy dinner!!


Doesn't it look delicious??

I am not going to share the recipe tonight, this is just a "teaser". In a few weeks this will be featured on Life: Frugal and Simple and there will be a recipe card for you to download!!

Episode 12: Angel Food Ministries Box

In this episode I go through my Angel Food box and share what all was in it and also talk about meals I could make with the food we got!

Visit www.lifefrugalandsimple.com to see the meals I have prepared with this food.

Oh The Things I Get Myself Into

Today I opened the freezer to pull out meat for dinner, just a routine thing right?? Well, not today! The meat I was after was in a basket and after pulling out the basket, a bag of frozen biscuits fell into the space where the drawer goes. No big issue, right? So I proceeded to pull out the drawer and grabbed the biscuits and put them back where they belong. Well, then the drawer wouldn't go back in! So I pushed and pushed and realized that the closet door doesn't allow the freezer to open all the way (great thing to figure out!) Well after about 10 minutes I had the basket jammed, wouldn't go in, wouldn't come out, with the freezer standing wide open, so what do I do? That's right, I called my husband! Thankfully he works a mile from home and was here in less than 5 minutes. And it took him 1 minute to solve my 10 minute dilemma! He pulled out the basket (yeah, the one I had been tugging on!) with almost no effort, unlatched the closet door, put the basket back in, closed the freezer, and latched the closet door back and then with a hug and a kiss he was on his way! So lessons learned: make sure things can easily go back to where they belong BEFORE you pull them out, I need to build some muscles, and most importantly, MY HUSBAND IS AWESOME!! A glimpse into my simple & silly life!

The Small Things

I have been thinking the past few days about the small things in life that are too often overlooked. For me, many of these small things are often silly, nothing profound at all, but they bring great joy into my life.

Here are my small things:
*John David's cold feet at night
*A hug after John David walks in the door from work
*Folding our laundry
*Baking cookies
*Vanilla Dr. Pepper at Sonic with John David!
*Welch's Grape Juice
*A good book
*Soft blankets
*Fleece sheets
*Flannel pjs
*Talking to my sister
*Homemade pizza
*Half anniversaries!
*Bargain shopping
*Blogging
*Sweet little dogs!
*Listening to Christian music and singing at the top of my lungs with John David (and neither of us can sing!)
*Looking at pictures
*Warm socks
*Organizing
*Kid Cereal
*Recycling
*Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
*Grocery Shopping
*Long car ride with John David

I could go on and on but those are some of the small things, that I enjoy and that made my life so wonderful!

Making Pinto Beans

Yesterday I made pinto beans! It is more cost effective than store bought pintos and they are so easy to make too! I followed directions from the blog, A Year of Crockpotting, and they turned out great! Last night I enjoyed a nice bowl of Vinegar and Pintos with corn muffins!! Yummy!!


The beginning: beans, water, salt, pepper, and salt cured ham


After 8 hours of cooking on high


3 containers to go in the freezer, 1 small container to go in the fridge for Mexican Casserole, and 1 bowl for tonight's supper

Menu Plan Monday

Here is the Menu Plan for the Week:

Pintos and Corn Muffins
Mexican Casserole
Beef Stroganoff
Fried Steak with Mashed Potatoes and Crescents
Pepperoni Pizza
Chicken Tacos