Only in Pennsylvania

Many of you have never met my youngest sister...her name is Evonne...I'm sure she'll be thrilled that I put this particular picture up. No, I won't tell you that she ate this entire sandwich!! At any rate, she lives in Pennsylvania - Perry County - the natives brag that their county continues to have not one traffic light.
Despite this lack of "civilization," they do know how to make an incredible sub sandwich!!
The one above was made in the town of Newport by true, full-blooded Italians and was
absolutely yummy!!! The bread is homemade and you're never sure how big your roll will be.
MMMMMM...

And the chips...only in Pennsylvania can you get chips like these...Grandma Utz's, Middleworths, Gibbles...
The rest of the world has no clue what their missing eating Ruffles and Frito Lay!!

This sandwich is made by the infamous MAMA's Pizzaria of New Bloomfield.
It used to be my favorite but the place in the first picture has won the gold.
Yes, I ate two sub sandwiches in one week!!


Yes, I have found a way to upload pictures...
Many updates on the way.

I guess I'll head to bed - hungry.
I better get some sleep - I'm sure to hear from Evonne tomorrow.

To the Faithful

Some of you are still checking my blog --- bless you! Some of you are starting to make smart comments concerning my lack of updates --- bless you too!

Well, there are many reasons as to my lack of blogging - - mostly time issues. Other issues would be: spending time in remote areas of PA that have little or no web access other than dial up and the fact that I can't find my cord that connects my camera to the computer!!

Really, this has been the busiest and most stressful summer that I can recall - ever. I feel like it was May and now tomorrow is the first day of school!! I have participated/directed 4 VBS's and 2 camps and have one more week-end VBS this coming Friday-Sunday. The difficult part was the fact that out of those 7 weeks there were 4 different themes that I had to put together due to various and sundry reasons. Compound that with Kenwood Kidz, which was an altogether different theme than any of those 4!!! Trust me, my basement and dining room look as if a tornado has hit it!! Only those of you who have done children's ministry understand what 5 different themes with props, visuals, etc. can possibly mean.

School does begin tomorrow. I now have a Senior, Junior, 8th grader, and 6th grader. Where does the time go??? Wasn't it just a year ago that the boys and I started Kindergarten and Pre-school together??? (fyi - I was their teacher at GBS) David - a Senior??? I look at all the campus "kids" around here and think about when we first arrived in 1995 -- most are married, many have children!!! How can it be????

Sooooo much has happened this summer - I'd rather show you than write it.
Maybe someday if I find that cord.....

Until then my faithful friends....

Something I Read

"We, you see, are terribly prone to settle for less than what God desires for us. We are glad enough for God to remove an irritating behavior from our personality (a sour disposition, for example), or a destructive addiction (like alcholism), but it is a very different thing for Him to begin restructuring our inner affections. We may be willing to give up honors and possessions and even friends, but it touches us too closely to disown ourselves. And yet we simply must understand that God is seeking not to improve us but to transform us. C. S. Lewis writes, 'The goal towards which [God] is beginning to guide you is absolute perfection; and no power in the whole universe, except you yourself, can prevent Him from taking you to that goal.'"

Streams of Living Water
Richard J. Foster
page 85

GREAT Book - Highly recommended to me -- I pass it on to you

My thoughts -- "settling for less than God has in mind"
-- "improve" vs. "transform"
-- I am the only one that stands in the way of God's work in my life

Stopping to smell the lilies

I enjoy sitting in the alley amidst the flowers...there's something about them that is
relaxing, natural, beautiful...

This year I have added new plants...Easter lilies salvaged from a garbage heap -

last year they died and withered away and I decided it was a lost cause.
However, this year 4 lilies appeared and to my amazement two of them actually bloomed!
They are/were beautiful!! I do believe if the back three had more sunlight they would have done as well as the first plant.
Apparently "Easter Lilies" are supposed to bloom in June, not March or April and they need sun.
My second plant below is a poinsetta. It had lost all but a few of its leaves and looked horrible.
I was about to trash it but decided to do an experiment just to see what would happen if I would water it. I stuck it in a corner of the kitchen and gave it some water. To my amazement, the perceived dead plant had life! It began to bring out new leaves...I kept watering and discovered it liked indirect light better than full sun...I kept watering...
Now it sits outside...a constant reminder to me to keep praying for those requests that I sometimes view as hopeless or dead...somewhere deep inside there is potential and life...there is beauty, there is hope...

There's many more spiritual applications in my lilies and poinsetta -- I'll let you think about them.

Just Sippin' Starbucks

Ahh, my readers and lurkers...have you missed the blog updates?
Are you weary of looking at the same old grocery pictures??
Well, forget the BonBon's - I've been living a leisurely life - just sippin' Starbucks all day long.

Yeah -- And then she wakes up!

Actually, since we're on the Starbucks subject, the one pictured above was FREE!
A VENTI Mint Chip Mocha Light - Free -- worth $4.80!
(Well, not really worth that much but COST that much!)

Recently I was given a card from the Starbuck's company for purchasing a bag of their coffee at Meijer. You know how it works, purchase the bag, go on-line and register a number on the print-out paper, and receive a $5.00 gift certificate. This I did and received the card in the mail which I promptly lost in the vast domains of my book bag. Then I found it just in time for the promotion going on at the store which includes registering your card and getting a free drink. This I did and received a postcard in the mail stating that I had a free drink on them.
Soo...I took it to the Starbucks nearest me in the wonderful land of KY and found the priciest frapp on the board and enjoyed every sip and swallow!

I received a Starbucks gift card for my birthday, which I also registered but have yet to receive the postcard - I think it was stolen by some other Starbuck's lovin' person.

I have one more card to register (Dave got one at church for a Father's Day gift. Being the dear, sweet man that he is, he promptly laid it on my van seat before leaving the parking lot) and now I will await the third free drink.

All that to say - register your gift cards - it really works deliciously!

Soo...where have I been?
Well, I completed a VBS at the Afton Wesleyan Church last week.
A friend of the family had an emergency on Sunday and ended Monday with a stent (stint?) in a very critical place of his heart. I was honored (and I do mean that) to take care of their girls for a few days.
The Goodwill had a great sale on skirts - $.99 - and my girls benefited in a very nice way. We Goodwill hopped.
On Tuesday I did my coupons, shopping and we welcomed new next door neighbors with a cook-out.
Wednesday was full of errands, cleaning, and church.
Thursday - I actually started to scrapbook again!!! It's my personal vacation.
Friday - it was yesterday but I have no clue.
Saturday -- more errands and a special project that I'm undertaking.

That's about it...some of you are really making headway with the Grocery Game. Just today I talked with two different ones about it.
Some of my freebies for the last two weeks include:
3 boxes of Totino's Pizza Rolls
2 Powerade's 32 oz.
24 ct. Excedrin
Lawry's Lemon Pepper marinade (delicious on grilled chicken!)
2 containers of Kroger's Chocolate "cake for two"
and a few other things I can't even remember.
I also purchased quite a few items for less than $.75.
My new goal is to save 75% on my groceries instead of 45-50%.
I've stock piled quite a few items - we'll see.

New Ways to Save on Groceries

I was so excited...the cereal above cost me only $.38 a box!! This week at Meijer they have cereal on sale (select brands/kinds) 4 for $7.00. I decided to try something to see if it would work and it did! Here was the plan - yea...I know your reading with bated breath...

2 coupons worth $1.00 each when you bought two boxes ($2.00 savings)
2 coupons worth $.75 each from those pull out Smart Source thingies in the aisle
1 $1.50 Meijer coupon that printed at the register from a previous visit

Now, I had heard because the first 2 were manufacturer's coupons, the second 2 were sponsored by an independent company (by the way - I always pull a few even if I don't plan to use them that day or in that particular store - they came in handy yesterday!), and the last by Meijer, that you should be able to use them all on the same purchase...

It worked like a charm...the cashier accepted all 5 coupons and took up to $1.00 for the .75 cent ones (I even told her they said "DO NOT DOUBLE!" - I guess she didn't) - a savings of $5.50!!!

Here are my freebies from 2 or 3 weeks ago -- I know-- you're thrilled.

Yesterday's Freebies included:
24 count Excedrin ($2.49)
2 Kroger Disposable Cameras ($5.79 each)
1 Guacamole ($1.99)

I have discovered the Kroger site to be very helpful and used it yesterday again.
You can download "coupons" on to your card.
Kroger has printables and downloadables.
At the Kroger site there is a link to PG-e "coupons" - I was able to get quite a few Buy1/Get1 items using that and then added a coupon too.
There was also a link called "shortcuts" that allowed me to download even more on to my Kroger Card.

At any rate, I did a major stockpiling of Shampoo, Body Wash and other Hygiene products.
I saved $65.14 at Kroger
and
$51.32 at Meijer

What killed my budget was toilet paper (15.99), a very nice beef roast (7.00), and 5 (12 pack) cases of soda ($11.00) even though they were also on sale and a decent price. The T-paper (Charmin Strong) ended up being .53 cents a roll - our family is now on a count the squares budget! HAHA - but serious!! and the soda ends up at .18 a can -- to be used on July 4, church functions, or AYC. Dave says "yeah, right."

Now that I've totally bored you but impressed myself, I'll get to work for the day.

One more thing -- I took off CVS and Walgreens from my Grocery Game subscription because the link, Money Saving Mom, on the right, gives you most of the info but not in as nice a format. It does link you to Target, Wal Mart, Rite Aid, and a ton of other places too.


Until the next time....

It's FIESTA Time!

A few weeks ago Kenwood Kidz did the "Fiesta" theme published by Group a few years ago and given to me compliments of Tara, and her sister, Tiffany. The children loved it and I enjoyed presenting it. This week begins my summer of VBS travels and this is the theme I am taking with me. I only do this theme three times instead of 6 or 7 (by that time you are completely FIESTA'd out!!!). Last week at KA it was "Tumbleweed Gulch...where God's Love Changes Everything." At AYC Small ALPS I am doing "Champions of God's Love" with a sports twist to it and at Kenwood Kidz the theme is "Galilee by the Sea". This makes my summer very busy and complicated but not redundant!!!

But back to FIESTA for now...today and tomorrow are mapped out for me as I begin my first VBS Thur- Sat at the Afton Wesleyan Church.

Main Idea for Day One

Emily and Ben taking the offering.

Some of the children placing stickers on their sombreros.