LoVe this BLOG....

I foung this very fun blog tonight and thought I would share, this women is BURSTING with creative ideas! Check it out, you won't be disapointed :)

www.meandmyinsanity.blogspot.com

I have a feeling I will be visiting her blog often for fun, creative ideas!!!

{Nienie, you are my hero}

Since my blog is focused around "inspiration", I wanted to do a post specifically about one very incredible women who has inspired me in ways I don't even know how to adequately express. I'm SURE many (or most) of you have heard of Stephanie Nielson and her blog the nienie dialogues. If you HAVEN'T heard of her (or of her family) this is one story YOU MUST READ! It is the most beautiful story of love, peace, and hope.

I started reading Nienie's blog over a year ago. My cute friend Tara had been reading her blog and shared it with me. My oldest daughter was about to start Kindergarten and like most mothers I was having some very mixed emotions about my little princess being old enough to go to school! Tara had told me about a post that Nienie had recently done about a 'Back to School Feast' in honor of her daughters starting the new school year. No detail was left out in Nienie's dinner honoring her daughters. The table was decorated to a "T" with her most beautiful dishes, home made crowns were made for the girls to wear, they toasted to the new year, and even had a fashion show. As I read this post about this fabulous feast, I thought, "this is my kind of women". I was immediately intrigued by Nienie. As I continued to read more and more of Nienie's blog I soon discovered that she is not only an incredible mother, but she has an incredible testimony of the Gospel, she is madly in love with her husband, she's got spunk & sas (which I love), and she has her priorities right where they NEED to be. WHO wouldn't want to be like her?

Shortly after I started reading her blog, Nienie and her husband were in a plane crash and were both seriously injured. I was in total shock. It is so unbelievable how in a blink of an eye life can change so quickly. I continued to follow Nienie's story of recovery through her sisters blog, cjane (who is equally as delightful). I didn't realize last year when I just happened upon Nienie's blog, that her story, her families story, would change my life. I have prayed for this family, I have fasted for this family, and I have shed many, many tears while following their story. I have been deeply touched by their powerful messages of strength, courage, and faith. I don't even know how to put into words the impact this beautiful story has had on my life. I know that Heavenly Father lead me to this story to help me through my own trials, to help me re-focus my life on WHAT REALLY MATTERS, to put my life into better perspective and to strengthen my testimony. What an incredible GIFT!

Last year was our first year doing OUR back to school FEAST for our children. We made yummy food, invited great friends to join us, set goals for the year, had a rockin' fashion show, and then finished our evening with Priesthood Blessings given by the Fathers. It was so much fun and a tradition that we will carry on throughout our children's school years. Sadly school started today and we have not yet had our 2009 'Back To School Feast'. Our family has just moved and my husband is still working out of state, but AS SOON as he is HOME with us we will have our feast, I can hardly wait, the plans are already being made, and they kids are so excited!

With Love,

Brittany

*** To Nienie, you may never read this, but I wanted to Thank You for the amazing women that you are. You are truly a treasure, an instrument in Gods hands. Congratulations on climbing the "Y", WHAT an accomplishment! You are such a beautiful daughter of our Heavenly Father, both INSIDE AND OUT!

Check out this COOL product

We love to eat all kinds of fruits and veggies at our house, but it drives me crazy how fast they spoil. I saw these great storage containers that help to keep your produce fresh on one of my very favorite money saving blogs

click here to check it out...

http://jane4girls800dollarannualbudget.blogspot.com/2009/02/osofresh-review-and-giveaway.html

I can't wait to get a set for myself:)

WOW, this is impressive!!

A good friend of mine recently shared some coupon shopping tips with me. I have never been a coupon shopper, but after hearing about how much money you can save if you put in a little work before you hit the grocery store I have totally been SOLD on the idea of coupon shopping!! The sad truth is that part of the reason I didn't want to use coupons is because I thought it would be embarrassing to have a 100 coupons at the check out register. Well I'm over that because I would rather shop smart and save money, who cares if I have a 100 coupons:).

You NEED to check out this blog, http://www.jane4girls800dollarannualbudget.blogspot.com This women is a single mom with three daughters and she seriously knows how to get some bang for the buck!! She has some GREAT ideas on saving SERIOUS money on groceries (she only spends $800 per year- TOTAL)!! One of the things I like best about her philosophy is that she 'Stockpiles', when something is on sale for cheap (she even gets LOTS of things for FREE), she buys a TON of it. This is such a great way to build up your food storage!! She also does once a month cooking, which I love!! I have been doing freezer meal cooking (once a month cooking) for a couple months now and it is GREAT. For a week straight I cooked like a mad women and froze all of my meals. I haven't cooked since the middle of August and I should be able to make it through the end of this month with out making anymore meals:)

Here are a few more helpful sites that my friend shared with me-
www.notlivingwithout.blogspot.com
www.thegrocerygame.com - I really like this one so far, it is very helpful in getting started!
www.couponmom.com
www.mommysavers.com

*** My goal for November is to spend ONLY $250 on groceries, baby items, and household items. This is going to be a HUGE challenge for me. I normally spend somewhere between $600-$700 a month on all of these items. I thought that I knew how to shop frugally, I do most of my shopping at Super Walmart, Sam's Club, and Costco, I buy lots of store brand items, and I don't buy junk (ok-occasionally on the weekends:)- no soda, no candy, no ice cream, no chips, etc... When I found out about this women's blog and that she only spends $800 in a year and I spend close to that in a month, I KNEW that I needed to figure out how she was doing it and go for it!! SO I am still pretty clueless, but I am learning more and more everyday!! Just the other day I went to the store for ONLY things I needed, I did some searching online first to look for coupons and then when I got to the store I only bought the items that were on sale, my total came to $25 and after coupons I only spent $17 out of pocket. I was SO EXCITED, I saved $8!

If anyone out there has any advise on this subject, I would LOVE to hear it!!

A Mothers Love

I received this email about a beautiful story of a mothers love and desire to remember her daughters life that ended tragically at a young age...


Brittany,

I've commented on your blog before concerning Sheye Rosemeyer... However, I wanted to share another blog with you that has helped me learn alot. I don't know this family at all. I just happened upon her blog as I did Sheye's. I have found this story to be so inspirational, sad, enlightening and empowering. I thought it was the perfect kind of thing for a blog like yours. Anyway, just thought I would pass it along. Thank you for being such a positive light in a world that tends to focus on such negative things. I really appreciate all you do!

Here's the address: http://www.rememberingnatalie.blogspot.com

Addiction Recovery Program

I recently recieved this email about the LDS Addiction Recovery program, this is an amazing program that is available to ANYONE who is in need of help!


I am a missionary for the LDS Church Addiction Recovery program under the direction of LDS Family Services. Many people don’t know about this program unless for some reason they have had the misfortune to have to be referred to it. I say misfortune only because that means that their life has been touched by their own addiction or the addiction of another who is close to them. I want everyone to know that there is hope and healing from addictions. This program is free and available to anyone even if they are not a member of the LDS Church. Everyday there are meetings all over the United States and the world for that matter to help people get on their way to recovery. I live in Utah and serve in the Sandy, Utah area. My husband and I do English as well as Spanish meetings. It is my hope and desire that anyone who reads this message, who is in need of help that they go to LDS.org and look under Home and Family, then look under Marriage, family and individual counseling, and then Addiction recovery program. You will find a downloadable manual as well as a list of where all the meetings are held and the times .In the manual the introduction will give you an overview of the purpose of the Addiction Recovery program. Then just go to the meeting. It is for those who are addicted to just about everything including Tobacco, Alcohol, Drugs, Pornography, Food disorders, Anger, and those are only the tip of the iceburg. This program can help just about anyone who has a desire to rid themselves of addiction and put their hands in the capable hands of the Lord. There is hope and there is healing, and only you can take the first step to get help. It is up to you. Think about it and if you need the help, just go and there will be people waiting for you to teach you the 12 steps to healing your wounded body and soul.

Thanks,
Katie

This women's story of a tragic loss is truly touching. She has one of the most amazing testimonies of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Plan of Salvation. You can read more about it at www.adailyscoop.blogspot.com

Amazing Grace

I came across this story from a family members blog and was just so impressed with the parents upbeat attitude and incredible faith in dealing with the challenges of having a baby born with a very serious heart defect. This story is so touching and so powerful to see how the Lord blesses us with his tender Mercy's.
Go to http://www.toshander.blogspot.comto read more about this amazing little girl