A Ring in the Sand

As I am sitting here listening to the rain this morning hit the covering on my patio, I hear what sounds like seagulls. It immediately brings back to mind all of the wonderful memories I have of the coast. If I could go anywhere to "get away" and be refreshed, it is there! It started when I was a kid, and my family would go over to Brookings and camp. Some of the greatest memories I have as a child is with my Dad, at the beach, playing in the waves.

After Sean and I were engaged, we went over to the coast for an afternoon trip. It was a beautiful day, and I decided to bury him in the sand. He had given me a beautiful diamond ring and I didn't want to scratch it at all, so I took it off and put it in his hat, on our blanket. I must say, I did an amazing burial job...he was up to his neck...but the sun started getting in his eyes and he asked for his hat. I reached over and grabbed it for him, without thinking, and when I did I heard a small thud. My ring had fallen into the sand.

For the next 3 or 4 hours we were carefully sifting through sand, trying not to move to hastily...but to no avail. It was starting to get dark, and we were going to have to leave for home, so we decided to try one last thing. We went to a local store, bought a collander, and began forcefully sifting through sand. Finally after we had pretty much given up hope, the miracle happened! To our utter shock, there in the bottom of the collander was my diamond ring.

As we are approaching on Easter weekend, I think about the other "rings lost in the sand" I have given up on. When situations seem hopeless, and all our efforts to find them have only proved disappointing. I am reminded to not give up hope, put the "collander" in the sand one more time because miracles happen!

For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost - Luke 19:10

My Testimony - What happens from tragedy?

We all have a testimony. One of the beautiful things about life is that we'll have many testimonies in many different areas before we die. As a Christian woman, the most important testimony I have in my life, is when I gave my life to Jesus Christ. However, what ended up being the most important decision in my life, started in tragedy.

June 24, 1993 was a beautiful day. The weather was just beginning to admit it was summer time, my husband and I were getting ready to celebrate our 1 year anniversary in about a month, and my brother and I had just thrown a successful 25th anniversary party for my parents 3 days before. It also was a bitter day. The week before my Grandpa had passed away, and so on this beautiful morning, we were also going to be holding the funeral service for him. My brother didn't come.

After the memorial, we gathered with some of of the family, and got back home that evening around 8:30. About an hour later is when the phone call came. It was my Dad...my brother had been in a car accident and was at RVMC...they didn't know if he was going to make it. We spent the night and the next day in the waiting room waiting for any sign of improvement. I would go in and see him and my hopes would get up because his skin looked flushed. They explained that was because he was on life support, and his temperature was being controlled. A day and a half later, on June 26, he was taken off life support, and died...He was 23.

Over the next few months I began contimplating what happens to you after you die. I had gone to church when I was younger, but had since completely walked away from the Lord. I knew enough to know if I was to die right then, I would go to hell, and that got me thinking. During the same time we had a couple who we were friends with and in business with, who had been inviting us to church and talking to us about how we would never be truly successful until we put God first in our life. They had been talking to us for over a year, but now I was starting to listen. Not because I wanted to be more successful, but because I was worried about dying and not being right with the Lord.

It took 6 months, but in January of 1994 we went to church, at Joy Christian Fellowship, with our friends, and committed our life to Jesus Christ. Since then, we have never looked back! God can use any situation for His glory, even tragedies. The Bible says that what the devil meant for bad, God can turn into good. Though I wish with all my heart, my brother was still here, I see his daughter, Kara, serving God with all her heart, and know that in a way he still is!

Comments are appreciated.

One of My Most Sentimental Moments

I'm finding with this blog that I can go from one end of the spectrum to another. Meaning, I can write about shopping, embarassing moments, birthdays, and now today a more sentimental moment in my life. Maybe I should change the name from Krista's Corner to Krista's Life, which would probably be more accurate.

When I was pregnant with my fourth child (Anna), I started having unexpected complications towards the last few weeks. My blood pressure was very high and the doctor's ended up putting me on bed rest. Which, by the way, is not easy when you have 3 other children. Now towards the beginning of my pregnancy a mission trip was planned to Bogota and my husband was on it. He was going to be back a couple weeks before my due date, and I had never been early, so I was not worried about him going.

Four days after he left I started having some numbing and tingling in my legs, and my blood pressure was still very high so I went in to have some blood work done. The next morning, as I was watching my old favorite TV show "The Price is Right" (oh yeh!), I got a call from my doctor telling me to pack my bags and come in asap. They were going to induce me that day! Well I immediately began to cry and try to explain to him that my husband was out of the country for 5 more days, and please oh please couldn't we wait. Apparently the situation was pretty serious because he wasn't budging.

That e-mail to Sean was probably one of the hardest I've ever had to write. He was going to miss the birth of his daughter. I went to the hospital, things were so sereal...although I had a wonderful support system with my family and friends, I would be lying to say I wasn't devastated. I finally gained control and calmed down when the phone rang in the hospital room...it was Sean. I of course, lost it again.

Throughout that day and night, he was with me. Maybe not physically next to me, but he was with me on the phone, and was a part of everything. When Anna was born at 11:15 pm on Nov.19, 2004 he heard her first cry. I layed the phone on her body and he prayed over her - just as he had done with the other 3. It was a moment I'll never forget. Even writing this I can still feel the emotion.

We sent pictures of her through the e-mail, and I'll always remember how he told me, "she's beautiful, I love her, but I can't wait to hold her." And that makes me think of our heavenly Father when we are not with him. He thinks we're beautiful, and loves us, and can't wait to hold us.

One of my Amazing Talents

As some of you may know I have an incredible, amazing, awesomely, outstanding gift. It is the gift to remember your birthday. Now I say this, and it might backfire, because someone will undoubtedly ask when their's is and I won't remember. So to make it fair, if you've never told me your birthday, don't expect me to get it right, and don't be offended if I happen to miss it by a couple days here or there.

I personally think that May 9th is the best birthday anyone could ever have. In fact, that happens to be MY birthday. It just sounds cool. May...9th... Which this also happens to only be 48 days away. The only thing I don't really like about my birthday is it is always in the same week as Mother's Day, and I kinda think that's a rip off. I do get spoiled though...I have an amazing husband and kids who love me.

So, test me and see how I do. It just sounds fun to do today.

Embarrassing Moments Part 2

It seems to me that some of my most embarrassing moments include falling. Either that or saying or doing stupid things when someone scares me or is being sarcastic. I am horrible at comebacks, so I just get weird. The time I remember the most is when Aaron Martinez was parked in the parking lot at church and I walked in front of him. He thought he would scare me, so he honked his horn right as I am walking in front of him. So, I did what anybody would do, and had a brilliant comeback. I gave him two thumbs up, a dorky smile/laugh and walked away!!!



The fall happened this last Christmas Eve in Rays Market. Yes, one of the busiest days of the year, when people are everywhere getting their last minute things. I was walking around the corner in the Central Point Rays, by the produce, when all of a sudden my shoes slipped on something. I went straight up, then straight down, HARD! My basket I was holding flew out of my hands and my oranges were rolling down the aisle. I of course did the same thing I did on the McAndrews hill...I got up quickly and looked around to see if anyone saw me. Guess what??? They did!!! It was right in front of the checkstands, and the checker lady came running over asking if I was ok. She made sure the floor wasn't wet, and I assurred her it was just my stupid shoes...So all was well and I got my things, went out to my truck, called my husband to tell him what an idiot I was, and was greeted with silence - then hysterical laughter.

Live Life and Laugh Hard...Even if it's at Yourself :)

Embarrassing Moments

I am going to venture away from blogging about shopping for a bit, and see where this goes. This morning I woke up and was feeling a little sad, for no reason at all. Have you ever had one of those days? So as I was sitting here in my living room I started thinking about some of my most embarrassing moments, and it made me laugh. Therefore, I thought, why not share a couple with the world??? To many people are too embarrassed to share their stories, but not me, maybe that just makes me crazy :)

Ok, number 1...ROLLERBLADING DOWN MC ANDREWS HILL...

It was a beautiful afternoon and my husband and I had gotten into roller blading. We lived over by North Medford High School and I was going to visit him where he was working at my Aunt's Store on Central Ave. So I put on my purple and green blades and headed out. I decided to go a faster way this time, not thinking much about it, I headed towards Mc Andrews St. Now for those of you who have been over that way before, you know that it is pretty steep, especially after you pass the Nazarene Church. So I'm feeling pretty cool, right...I got my blades on, I'm exercising, it's beautiful outside, and life is good.....Then I started going down the hill. I quickly notice that I am picking up speed at an accelerated rate and my knees are beginning to wobble. So picture with me if you will, I am flying down the hill on a sidewalk none the less, there are cars passing by me on one side, bushes on the other, and the sidewalk is coming to an end shortly. As fast as my body is going down the hill is about as fast as my mind is racing...."I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die" when lo and behold an office space appears past the bushes and a single small patch of grass. So, like a gymnast flys through the air, I throw myself into the biggest dive roll of my life and safely tumble three or four times into that haven. Of course I knocked the wind out of myself, but quickly got up, looked to see if any of the dozens of cars driving by saw me, and continued on my way to my Aunt's store.

What would you think if you were in one of those cars?

Stay tuned for #2 tomorrow.

I DID IT!!!

WOW :) I am very excited, this morning because I accomplished my goal! On Feb. 16, my friend Lucille took me to Food 4 Less with my $400.00 budget, and showed me how to only have to grocery shop once a month! This did not include my budget of $100 I have for cleaning supplies, etc. which we do at Costco. I was shopping for a family of 6 and full time daycare. When she first talked to me about it I thought, "this is crazy, there's no way I could do that." I was used to spending at least $500 - $600 on a good month, and that was after I cut way back, and my husband was doing the shopping. Read my first blog (Is it possible to shop once a month?) for more details.


For the first few weeks it was easy because there was alot of food in the house. By the end of the month it got a bit harder, because I had to be creative with what I had. The biggest thing I learned this month is that you have to pre plan, ration, use leftovers, and not get stuck in a rut where you make the same thing all the time. It literally is a new way of thinking for me.


On my first trip last month I went $9.00 over my food budget, and last night when I went shopping for this month I was $15.00 under!!! That includes a birthday and Easter. Pretty proud of my self, and I think Lucille would be too :)


I will continue blogging, not necessarily every day or just about food and shopping, although there will be a place for that also. I hope when you see a post pop up for Krista's Corner, you'll click on it, and see what the heck I'm up to next!

Food 4 Less One Month Shopping List

This is the original list that I used to get groceries on Feb. 16th. Since then, the only thing I have picked up was 2 gallons of milk. Woo Hoo!

http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AePt_ScVkM4gZGQ0NHo1ajJfMTRmanE1cDdnbQ&hl=en

Menu Items Part 3

I can't believe it has already been almost a month! I was talking to my sister in law yesterday about it all, and she is going to possibly join me on Monday - just to watch how the shopping goes. She is a great shopper, but I think the idea of only going once a month intrigues her.


Thanks again to my friend Amy who let me whine a bit last night to her. I am so sick of soup, so I wasn't going to eat dinner. That idea only lasted until I got hungry though. So as I am eating the soup (again) I am whining to her about how next month I will plan better for the last week. However, after my whining moment I talked about how I am totally sold on this idea of only shopping once a month. I reminded myself, this is only the first month, and I've never done this before. So, the more I learn, the better "the last week" will be.


Today I am attaching my 3rd week of menus, and I want to be up front and tell you that I can't remember if this is what we really had on the days it says. I know we had these meals during the month, but if it was Mon., Tue., Wed., etc - I've lost track. So please take it at face value and use the menu as simply gaining ideas for planning your month.


http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AePt_ScVkM4gZGQ0NHo1ajJfMTJmZzY3M2JmNw&hl=en

Menu Items Part 2 and My Secret Passion

So I sent my husband down to the store last night...for milk. Now I could justify that I need milk for daycare, and that is true. However, I would be lying if I didn't mention the reason we ran out of milk 5 days early is partly because we have been on a cookie spree this week. And you have to have milk with cookies, right! It's been a bit ridiculous how many cookies we (especially me) have eaten over the last few days. I think we've made about 9 or 10 dozen...That's close to 120 cookies, and I think I, myself ate a third if that. I know, that's gross, I'm just keeping it real! Needless to say - we needed more milk. So I blew it. The whole idea of rationing went out the window and all I can say is...I'm sorry. But truthfully I'm really not, they were pretty dang good.

However, on a victorious note, last night I made one of our new favorite meals, and I thought I had nothing in the cupboard. It's amazing what you have when it doesn't look like you have anything. So, thanks to my friend Amy who gave me an awesome cream sauce recipe! You can find it on my "Sauce Recipes, Please" blog.

Attached to today's blog (brought to you by "glutton")(that would be me) is my 2nd week of menu items. Hope you enjoy, and have a great day!

http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AePt_ScVkM4gZGQ0NHo1ajJfOGY4ZmdyMmhz&hl=en

Menu Ideas Part 1

http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AePt_ScVkM4gZGQ0NHo1ajJfM2Z2M2o2d2hw&hl=en



As I near the end of this month, I am putting together some of the menu items we ate. We definatley did not suffer! Today I am attaching one weeks worth, and tomorrow I will post another, and so on until you have our full months menu and my original shopping list by the end of the week. This will not be necessarily in the order we ate it - because I am not that organized yet :) As I mentioned in the 2nd blog posting, we ate quite well the first week. Now that I am in week 4 I am having to pull from every creative person I know, because I am obviously running out of things.



I have had to remind myself quite often about the reason I am doing this. It simply is because I love my family. We are on a budget, and finding ways to save time and money is honoring to my husband. For my kids, the idea of them growing up with a tool belt full of ideas of meals and knowing how to prepare them, is important to me. And for all of us, as a family, we have spent more time together at the table, and that is PRICELESS!

Sauce Recipes, Please

Sorry it's been a few days, and I still don't have the menus up. Let me explain...I am still not very good with computers, and my husband was out of town. So, I couldn't figure out how to download or upload, whatever you're supposed to do, a menu form to fill out. Well, he's home now and they are coming, hopefully today! So in the meantime, I'll catch you up with my journey.

This is THE LAST WEEK!!! I am down to the wire on my once a month shopping quest. It has been awesome! This week, I really need to plan well because as you can probably guess I am starting to run low on supplies. If you know of any good regular recipes or sauce recipes, please let me know asap. I have a lot of chicken and hamburger left, lots of onion, potato, carrots, celery, pasta, and rice. But to be honest, I am soooo sick of soup. So I need something besides that. I would like to find a way to make some pasta sauce ,without cheese or tomato sauce, because I don't have any.

Let me say one thing...I will continue to do this, FOR SURE. My next shopping trip will be next Monday. This week my husband and I are going to talk about what did work and didn't work, and we will start planning the menus for next month. At the end of the week I will reveal if I stayed within my $400 dollar food budget. Remember I am shopping for a family of 6 and a full time daycare...Once a Month.

A New Way of Thinking

My husband and I were laughing the other night because I mentioned that one of the things that keeps me accountable to not running out and grabbing dinner is writing this blog. The thought of going down to the store and picking something up FREAKS ME OUT! I mean, what if I see one of you guys??? Then what? So, thank you for keeping me accountabe in my endeavors. With that said, I did almost give in last night. Seriously I felt the words, "let's go get fast food" at the tip of my tongue. Why? It wasn't because I didn't have a dinner planned. It wasn't because I didn't make the planned dinner either. The reason those words almost flew out of my mouth was because the dinner I made, simply put,tasted like... crap. What did I do instead? I quickly threw together some Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches and Oranges and called it good as we ran out the door to church. Things don't always work out...so what...improvise! My kids didn't die because they didn't have meat for dinner last night. In fact, they kind of enjoyed the change up. They didn't know I almost gave in either, because I kept my mouth shut and saved us a $25 dollar bill.

I don't ever want to get stuck in a rut. In every area of my life I want to be willing to grow. Spiritually, I want to grow closer in my walk with God, every day. Physically, I want to understand the importance of being healthy and exercising. Trust me, I am not there yet, but I live with my own personal Jillian Michaels (Emily) and she is always reminding me! In the area of emotions, I want to grow. I want to learn the right way to respond to situations and not be emotionally driven. And financially, God, please renew my mind! That is what actually started this whole thing, is we finally got on a budget. No matter who we are, where we came from, what our background or financial status is, we should never think we've "arrived". There's always room to grow. There's always room to improvise.

Some people have wanted to know what my menus look like. So tomorrow, I will be posting the menus I made for the month, and on Friday I will be posting the shopping list I went to the store with at the very beginning.

Being Balanced

I mentioned in a previous blog that with a daycare and 4 children I find myself feeling like all I ever do is clean clean clean. And this is true. Now I find myself cooking, baking, checking my blog for comments. Cooking, baking, checking my blog for comments, etc. So today I thought it would be important to talk about balance. It is so easy to get excited about a new project and then push other important things to the side. I think we all know what I am talking about:) So today's mission is not pick up my computer to check e-mail, facebook, blog status...anything. Today will be a day of spending quality time with my children, helping them with their homework, getting caught up on laundry, and of course...cleaning.



What consumes us? As a christian woman, I know what the pad answer should be. The Lord, right? But does He? I know for me it is so easy to get caught up in life, that some days I don't really even think about the Lord. Terrible...but true. If I could think of one word to describe God, it would be BALANCE. Think about it....Even in creation He spent one day creating the heavens and earth, one day distinguishing night and day, and so on. He is fully love, and yet we hear about the wrath of God too. I want to be balanced in my life. I want to always remember that the Lord should come first. I also want to be careful not to get caught up in the excitement of new projects that I forget about the other imprtant things in my life.



By the way...just so you know I still do have all my meals planned for today. Dinner tonight should be amazing. BBQ Pork and Rice on Corn Tortillas with Lime and Melted Cheese. Mmmmmm!



Keep it balanced...Goodbye for Today Computer World

» Once-a-Month Shopping: Save More by Shopping Less

» Once-a-Month Shopping: Save More by Shopping Less

I read this article this morning in less then 5 minutes. It is about a family who has only shopped once a month since 1984! They answer questions about fresh produce, storing milk, bread, cheese, etc. They also talk about looking for sales and using coupons. I haven't ventured into clipping coupons yet (one thing at a time) but people who know what they're doing, and do it right, save a lot of money. I remember when Sean worked at Safeway, people would come in and use coupons all the time and save tons of money.

A quick thought:

I am now on my second week. My cupboards, freezer, and pantry still look pretty full and I've made every one of my meals. Remember I am feeding a family of 6 and running a daycare. I did notice last night I have been using bread and juice a little fast. So that just reminded me I need to proportion things out carefully. One of the reasons my kids are at the dentist a lot is because I have let them be juice a holics. Water and milk is way more healthier, and less expensive. As always, feedback is appreciated. Also, if there is anything specific anyone would like to know, ask me, and I'll see if I can find the answer for you.