Share Yourself Saturday: Keys

http://www.flickr.com/photos/adspackman/ / CC BY 2.0

Ok, be honest. How many of you have locked your keys on the car? I have a couple of times. Once a boyfriend managed to open the door with a hanger or metal bar. Once it was in the winter, while I was warming up the car. Yep, I locked the door by habit and closed it with the car running. My husband (then just a friend) had to drive me 40 minuets round trip to my house to get my spare set. My husband locked the keys in the car on our honeymoon. I put the locksmith receipt in our scrapbook. :)

But I've got an even better one for you. I not long after I had gotten an SUV with a remote unlock, I stopped at a gas station with my 1 1/2 year old who started fussing in the back. Without thinking, I gave her my keys to play with while I filled up the tank. While I was pumping, I heard a honking noise. I was looking around to figure out what dork kept honking when I realized my keys had a lock button on them.

Imagine my panic as I saw my sweet little girl smiling while she hit the lock button several times! I started tapping on the glass and saying "push the other button honey, push the other button!!!" To my great relief, she actually did! I snatched over the door immediately and confiscated the keys.

I've learned my lesson. I doubt I'll ever do that again. But I'm sure I'll do other equally brainless (sleep deprived) mommy things! How about you? Have any key stories of your own?

Share Yourself Saturday: Accidents

I'm accident prone, especially in the kitchen. Especially with hot stuff. :) I'm not sure why, but I burn myself often. It's not that I'm a bad cook (I'd like to believe so, anyway) but I tend to be absent minded and not very careful.

My father-in-law likes to tease me because anytime I do a large family dinner I severely burn myself. One year, I grabbed the hot oven coil when trying to pull out the turkey. One year I badly burned the sensitive underside of my forearm. It was about a 3 inch burn and hurt. A LOT.

I also tend to cut myself. Just a couple of days ago I sliced off the tip of my finger with a mandolin cutter. Opps. That actually didn't hurt so much, surprisingly. I'm hoping that I won't impart my accident prone cooking ways to my daughters. I hope to teach them safety.


I'll certainly be an expert on teaching them first aide. :) By the way, clear aloe vera gel seriously takes the burning feeling away. It's a miracle! Now if only I could find my bottle of it....

How about you? Are you accident prone in the kitchen or are you the picture of safety?

Share Yourself Saturday: Healthy Beginings

I really appreciate the Heavenly Homemakers blog, especially her commitment to eating healthy and helping others learn to do so as well. I've read her Simple Steps Toward Healthy Eating and I love it. Her story of where they were and how they changed is inspiring.

I've been wanting to be healthier for a while now and I have a great deal of knowledge on the subject, but it's just that: knowledge. I don't actually do it. My husband and I have been discussing it a lot lately and we've made the decision to start applying that knowledge.

We are not the "throw everything away and start from scratch" kind of people. Instead, we've decided to use up the things we're going to cut out and simply not buy them anymore. We will be making small, regular steps toward our goal of eating healthy to be sure that it'll stick and not just be some extreme change we won't continue with.

I hope to be sharing more on this healthy eating journey on here soon, especially our story of where we came from and where we're going with it. :) It's a process! How about you? Have you been making changes in how you eat? Or do you want to make changes and are afraid to start? Share with us!

Share Yourself Satuday: Pretty Crafty

I know how to knit (and crochet).

Does that surprise you? Actually, I got a book about knitting socks and did one. Yes, one. It was so awful I stopped at one. :) I thought about ripping it out to start a new one when I got sidetracked by a new hobby... card making.

Then a few days ago I found an old project of mine... a shirt for Thad that was never finished. Are you getting a picture of me now? I LOVE crafty stuff, so much so, that I can't finish a project before I get excited about another and take off after that. I have a lot of half finished stuff, which I know is a bad character trait. But, alas, it is so. I know I need to pick one or two things and really concentrate on getting good at them, before moving on, but my attention span seems to be short with crafty stuff.

We were finger painting her new craft drawers. :)

On that note, my new rule is that "Janeen isn't allowed inside Hobby Lobby." Ask me why I created this rule. :)

Anyway, how about you? Do you love crafts? Love starting stuff so much you tend to leave when you started unfinished? Share with us!

Share Yourself Saturday: Maternity Clothes

Ok. Confession. I still wear some of my maternity clothes. Not out in public (usually) but some of my favorite lounge clothes are my ultra comfy maternity clothes.

For example, during these hot days we've been experiencing, instead of pajama pants I've been wearing these cute brown maternity gouchos that I LOVE. I sometimes wear some of the tanks as undershirts. And, well, sometimes some of the tops I do wear out in public still. But in my defense, when I bought them, the girl who worked at the maternity store said that she wears some of the maternity clothes because she got a discount and they are really cute. :)

How about you? Do you still sometimes wear maternity (or maternity-like) clothes when no one is looking? :)

Share Yourself Saturday: Diet Shopping

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If you know me, you know I am cheap. I hate spending much money for anything. I scoffed at paying $2 for a bottle of Heinz 57 sauce (orginally priced over $5). I turn my nose up at paying full price for much of anything.

That said, my trip to Giant Eagle was very difficult this week. I've recently been hitting the Weight Watchers program again with much enthusiasm. So, to make it easier for me and to help me lose weight, I bought some splurges. I used coupons on almost everything and bought mainly sale items, but it was still much more than I'm used to paying. I was sad about it at first.

But then, I had a revelation. It's ok. I'm worth the effort and money. I don't want to go overboard, of course, but if paying a little more for food that will help me in an area I desperately want to have victory in, then it's worth it. Bare bones frugality isn't right for every season. I'm not going to let saving money and penny pinching put me in bondage anymore than I want the love of money to control me.

How about you? Are there times when frugality isn't the best option and you choose to spend a little more on something important to you? Share with us!

Share Yourself Saturday: Cooking

I love to cook. I love to eat the things I cook. I love to feed others. I love to cook! The year I got married, I decided I was going to cook the turkey we had for Easter dinner and I've been doing it since. I think this was our 4th celebration at our house and it was so much fun!

Usually, I over-do it. I usually want to make a bunch of fancy stuff to impress everyone or something like that. :) But this year, I kept it really simple (since I have two kids and all) and I was surprised at how great it was. I was sitting there, with dinner almost finished, shocked at how unstressed out I was. Normally when I cook the Easter dinner, I'm running around all day cooking, cleaning and stressing out. What a huge difference keeping it simple made!


And even though I didn't do anything really fancy, we had a great meal, great fellowship and over all a great day. Lesson learned. Don't stress out over making a huge, perfect, impressive meal. Just make good food and have good family and friends over. It'll be a day worth remembering!

Share Yourself Saturday: Games

If I told you I was a game fanatic, would you believe me? All kinds of games, too. Computer games, board games, card games, facebook games....

Actually, one of the things my husband and I do to relax and spend time together is to play a computer game called Empire Earth together. We have two computers networked together and we fight against the computer together. :)

Sometimes, my game playing has a point to it. While my husband was working in Chicago for a week at a time when my daughter was a few months old, I'd get bored at night and look for free games to play on the internet.

One night, I stumbled onto a game site run through Hotmail, called Club Bing. You can play games (like cross words, word searches and more) and receive points for winning games. Those points can be redeemed for some fun stuff like books, movies, and even small appliances! So, if I'm going to play games, I might as well play some that get me something, huh?

Do you have a game addiction? Leave a comment telling us about it and share with us!

Share Yourself Saturday: Valentine's Day

http://www.flickr.com/photos/aussiegall/ / CC BY 2.0

This year, for Valentine's Day, we're keeping it very simple. We were going to have someone watch the girls, but it didn't work out this year.

I plan on making a yummy dinner from a recipe I haven't tries yet. It's called Indonesian Peanut Chicken and it sounds amazing! I'll have to let you know if it is as good as it sounds. I'll probably serve it with a 2 day old french bread loaf my husband got for free from work. The best way I've found to eat old french bread is to slice it, microwave it a few seconds until it is warm and soft and use real butter on it. Fabulous!

I haven't decided on a dessert yet, because we were planning on going out for dessert, but I'll probably choose something with chocolate and maybe I'll start my search in All Recipes or Kraft Foods and Family (their magazines are amazing).

We'll probably rent a free Redbox movie. I'll probably demand a chick flick that's also guy compatible. Life as Mom has a list about chick flicks guys like too. I would like to add a few that my husband tolerates as well. Although, I'll readily admit, my husband is pretty easy to talk into watching a movie with me!

The Princess Bride

We both think this movie is cheesy, which is kind of the point of it, and it's hilarious! A real classic.

Fireproof

I can't stress highly enough what an excellent movie this is.

While You Were Sleeping
A very cute and funny movie.

I'm also lucky enough to have a husband that will watch (and actually enjoy) my Jane Austin and similar classic movies with me. We love Pride and Prejudice (seriously, the Collin Firth version is the only one I'll watch), Persuasion, Mansfield Park, Bleak House and Little Dorrit. I'm very specific in which versions of these I'll watch, especially because there's usually 3 or 4 different versions and most of them butcher it!

LoL. My husband has the theory that all chick flicks are the same. Guy meets girl. Guy or girl realizes the one they're with is all wrong for them. Guy and girl have some problem, work it out and leave their previous loves to be with each other. The end. :)

What are you planning on doing with your Valentine's Day? Share with us!

Share Yourself Saturday: Facebook

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I have a confession to make this week...

I play games on Facebook. Too often. :) I'm an addict, especially on Restaurant City. It must be my inner chef. I just have to keep getting ingredients and learning new dishes!

Speaking of Faceboook... have you checked out the new Christian Frugal Mama fan page? I've been working to get it set up and up to par. I'm working on creating the habit of updating it. I often publish good deals and freebies I find on there that I don't always put on here so... Go check it out and become a fan to stay updated! :)

Do you have a game addiction confession? Or a social media addiction? :) Share with us!

Share Yourself Saturday

http://www.flickr.com/photos/audreyjm529/ / CC BY 2.0

Believe it or not, I played soccer. For a long time. When I was younger, much younger. I played soccer from about..... 2nd grade to 11th grade. I wasn't that good, but when I finally did get into physical shape, I wasn't bad. But then the season would end, my physical activity and training would slide and.... I'd be out of shape again. Just like I am now.

Actually, during one of my grade school soccer years, a soccer ball hit me square in the mouth and chipped some of my teeth. What they say about being hit in the ball with a ball when you're young is true... I freak if anything resembling a ball flies towards my face now.

Because my teeth were chipped (and one was chipped pretty badly) I had to go to the dentist to have it "bonded." Then it chipped again many years later and it still bothers me to this day. I'm learning now, as I get "older" just how important good teeth are. I have extremely sensitive teeth and my teeth hurt a lot.

So I guess, in a very roundabout-not-related way, soccer taught me about good dental hygiene. Make sure you brush, floss and rinse people!! :) Did any of you learn some very roundabout-not-really-related lessons from your childhood events that have carried into adulthood? Share with us!

Share Yourself Saturday

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There has been a great deal of talk about Haiti and about what to do for Haiti lately. It's great that people want to be involved and to do something. Money is definitely a big part of the equation. But there's more too.

When I was in engineering school, I was passionate about impoverished areas. Not only is there a lack of funds, but there's a huge lack of education and hands to help. I was a huge fan of programs such as Engineers Without Borders. Engineers Without Borders is a program that takes college engineering students, pairs them with professional engineers and gives them a project to work on for an impoverished area. They do projects like water solutions, pipes, and buildings. I always felt that programs like this were teaching the man to fish. You know, "Give a man a fish, he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish, he'll eat for a lifetime."

That's not to say that you HAVE to go to areas like Haiti. For some (like me right now) it's completely unfeasible and I'd probably just get in the way. But there are some of you out there who have skills and abilities that can help these types of areas. Haiti is the country that's in the news a lot right now, obviously, but there are other areas that are suffering as well.

My husband and I went on a week long missions trip to El Salvador before we were married. Anyone who's been to a third world country can tell you: It'll change your life. You go down thinking about how you will help these people and yet YOU are the one that's forever changed. So I'm wondering...

Who's been to a third world country before? What did you do, see and feel? Who's hoping to someday be able to make a trip to a third world country? Why? Share with us!

Share Yourself Saturday

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Every family has their own holiday traditions and memories. For me, I'd have to say that I remember the chaos.... in a good way! Sound crazy?

When I was very young, my parents divorced and eventually remarried. So I had two sets of parents and..... lots of grandparents, because some of my grandparents were divorced and remarried as well. So, every year I would typically spend the holidays going to at least 4 or 5 different celebrations. As a kid, I thought it was great!

Now, with being married, I have even more relations, but less grandparents. My holidays are still usually super busy, but I try to keep things more low key. This year we have 6 celebrations to attend in one week. That's as busy as I'll let it get. With the girls being young, I don't like trying to do too much, but it's only once a year. I make a point of keeping Thanksgiving simple because I know that a month later we'll be very busy. Kids love celebrations (as I did) and I definitely want my kids to be with their family, both near and far.

How about you? Are your holidays very busy or a little more low key? How do you manage it? Share with us!

Share Yourself Saturday: My Technical Woes

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There's a reason for my disappearance lately. A very nasty kind of virus seems to have taken over my new computer. I suspect it came from Facebook or something. I've spent WAY too much time trying to figure it out. My tech friend says Facebook and the like have been seriously attacked by hijackers and viruses. (Just so you know) I've done everything possible that he suggested and it's so bad that I can't even open up the internet browser. It even affected our other computer's internet because they were networked. As soon as I removed the connection and hooked up the old computer directly to the internet it was fine....

So, anyway, long, boring story made short: I have to completely reload Windows and everything else onto the new computer. Errr! Can you feel my frustration? I even have antivirus software, never download anything suspicious and have antimalware. I thought I was safe. Think again. I'll be much more careful from here on out with networking programs like Facebook.

Just thought I'd share that little warning with you. On the positive side, I've learned a great deal about computers and start up and troubleshooting Windows and Mozilla Firefox through all this. I won't bore you with the details but I think even my hubby was impressed with my smooth tech talk. :) How about you? Any technical woes you've survived? I'll never scoff at someone who gets a computer virus again.... I totally understand now!!!

Share Yourself Saturday (A Little early)

Photo by stevegarfield

Since I began blogging, I've come across many wonderful blogs and people who've encouraged me, inspired me and taken up way too much of my time at nap time! :) One such blog is Joy Ever After by the lovely Lady Jen and it is a true treasure. On the days when I am being selfish, busy and not thinking much about God or involving Him in my life (we won't talk about how often that is...), I read inspiring posts like the ones at Jen's blog and I find myself being pulled back to where I should be. With a wonderful outlook on life, motherhood and marriage and simply shining out a beautiful love for Jesus, Jen writes beautiful posts (including some wonderful "fictional" stories) that will lift your heart and your eyes to the Creator.

Lady Jen has been going through "soul searching," especially as pertains to blogging. It can be difficult to find the right balance of your time and I understand the frustration of feeling like you're spending your time writing into empty space. So, if you get a chance, check out Joy Ever After and some of her awesome posts (like my favorite one) and let her know if what she's doing has an impact. I hope you'll be encouraged and inspired as I have been and take a moment to encourage a very sweet, fellow Christian mommy blogger!

What are some of the blogs that have inspired and encouraged you around the blog world? Share with us!

Share Yourself Saturday

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I can't wake early in the mornings. No seriously, it's almost a CAN'T. Let me demonstrate:

When I was in high school, I had a radio alarm clock. I would turn that alarm to a station with static. I would turn the volume all the way up. I would set 2 alarms a few minutes apart. I put the alarm clock on the other side of the room so I would have to get up to turn it off.... Are you ready for this? There were mornings I'd wake up late and I had gotten up and turned off my alarm and gone back to sleep without remembering it at all. What do you do then?

I try and try to get up early, even now. I'd actually be happy if I could just get up as early as 7:30AM. I try almost every morning. It very rarely happens. It doesn't matter when I go to bed. 8 hours of sleep doesn't seem to enable me to get out of bed!! Any suggestions? :) How about you? Are you a morning person? What works for you? Share yourself with us!

Share Yourself Saturday

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This is me, cleaning. :) Ha. I wish I looked this glamorous cleaning!

As I mentioned yesterday, I spent my several hours of no-husband-or-kids time cleaning my house. :) Yes, I indeed am a bit of a neat freak. Granted, I have piles of things everywhere (especially "to-be-read" books) but they bother me. I actually have a hard time focusing on things I'm doing if my house is messy.
Every dry, dead leaf in the entry way irks me inside and I count the minutes until my Saturday sweeping day. Someone has to watch my 2 year old and 3 month old while I sweep because they both LOATHE the noise of the vacuum. Then, inevitably, Saturday comes and goes and my poor vacuum cries itself to sleep out of neglect. Such is the life of a vacuum in a toddler's domain.

I'd have to say my biggest cleaning pet peeve is the kitchen. As irritating as dead leaves and mud on the floor are, if my kitchen is a mess, my day is a mess. The gunk that piles up in the sink gives me the creepy crawlies down my back and don't even get me started on the floor under my 2 year old's chair. That's the subject material of nightmares, my friends.

How about you? Do you have a cleaning fetish or pet peeve to share? Don't worry, I won't laugh (too hard).

Share Yourself Saturday

As I mentioned earlier this week, I decided that I want to get to know you all better and let you know a little more about myself too! I think it's great to "meet" new people and I look forward to learning about all of you. I can't think of a better title than "Share Yourself Saturday" but you do, let me know! This week's randomness is:

School
As I mentioned, I actually have a bachelor's of science in Civil Engineering. :) Surprise you? I'm now a stay at home mama of 2 little girlies and haven't worked a day in the engineering realm since I graduated. It's really part of my testimony as a Christian.

In my first year of college, I met someone who got me to go to a Christian cafe and I just kept going, which eventually led to church and eventually, over 5 years ago, I met my Lord and Savior Jesus. I continued on in my path in college (something I felt God was calling me to do) and in the Spring of 2007 I graduated with a Civil Engineering degree (with honors even!) I was 6 months pregnant with my first daughter and choose to stay at home with her.

Everyday, since choosing to stay at home, has been a walk of faith. It's how I'm trying to honor God with my life right now. I'm not perfect at it, there are many days that I have doubts and regrets and temptations to abandon ship, but it's my chosen path. I believe this is where God has me, for now, and I want to be wherever He calls me, no matter how hard it is. I love that Amy at Finer Things is doing a series on "Mommy Come Home" and I hope to get a chance to sit and read it soon. It feels so good and is so encouraging to be among good company, even if it's a virtual connection!

How about you? What kind of schooling do you have and what paths have you chosen following that schooling? I'd love to hear about it!