It's the small things...

Wednesdays, for some minor reasons, are NOT my favorite day of the week. 

Sure, I mean, it's halfway through the work week...that makes it somewhat good...

and Wednesdays are also the day my great husband takes the kids to church.  He has Bible Study, and the kids each have their youth meetings, and I get my night out....TO GO GROCERY SHOPPING!  Gee, isn't that the most glamorous thing you've ever heard of?  (Brent thinks going to the grocery store is what I so desire....brother.)

Yeah, whatever.

Tonight, though, at the grocery store/superstore, I picked up some great things that made my Wednesday night ritual, not so bad.

The best purchase...along with the groceries that is....was the latest issue of Flea Market Magazine.

The next in line...a new purse calendar...on sale for 99cents, which I will be recovering and sprucing up a little.  I needed a smaller one that weighs, oh, less than the 5 pound one I've been carrying around!

And lastly, a great green long-sleeve men's T on clearance for $6.  I will be making another infinity scarf like the one here, and using the arms to make some more t-shirt flower pins.

So, Wednesday this week, was alright.  I even made it home before Brent and the kids, so I got to eat and read my book in silence for awhile.

What do you do on Wednesdays?

When did life get so complicated?

When exactly do you think life got so complicated?
Wait a minute, let me rephrase that...when exactly do you think we stopped caring about how things were made/or just got too lazy/busy/crazy to make them ourselves?

I think I remember when it happened.  For me, at least.  It happened twice in my life.  Twice since I had kids.

The first time was when my daughter was 3 months old and I went back to work.  I thought we could make it work, and I LOVED my job.  I was good at it, and it was fun.  I had good babysitters, and I was making good money.

BUT...
we ate out A LOT, and we spent a lot on gas (driving to work 1/2 hour each way, and also driving to the babysitter)  I made convenience meals because I didn't have time to make good ones.

Then I found out I was pregnant again when Grace was only 4 1/2 mo. old, and I decided I was quitting work.  We worked it out and I could stay home if we saved money in some areas.

I started making my own baby food, grew a garden, and started freezing and canning.  I made my own baby wipes and pinched pennies by trying to make things myself.

This worked out great until the kids went to school, and I went back to work.

I still had a garden, and canned and froze my own food (still do), but my time to do the other things got harder and harder.

However, things started to feel more important to me again.  I got  am tired of paying SO MUCH for things in the store.  I care about what is going into our bodies with all the processed food out there, and I want to change it, so I'm starting small.

I've talked about some of these things before, but they are SO EASY, I'm sharing them again.  And then I found something new.

I'm trying this because the grates on my burners are disgusting.

The solution with no scrubbing is here.  It's on my list.

The other products I've cut back my costs on are...Homemade fabric softener. ( I've been using this solution for months now, with the same result as the expensive softeners I used to buy. )

 I've tried different smells of conditioner with this recipe, but my new favorite is the Suave Lilac/Lavender scent.  It's great!  The recipe for the above is here.  This total solution costs me about $2.00 and it makes 1 1/2 bottles of fabric softener.  FULL bottles, not the half full ones you buy for $4.99 and more.  This recipe is a KEEPER.

The next recipe I've wanted to try since before Christmas, but I haven't needed to use it yet, so I haven't tried it.  My bar of soap is waiting for me.  Lilac scented.  I can't wait.  Hand Soap refill.  It cost me all of $5 for the ingredients and it'll make me a GALLON of refill soap.  That's a lot of soap.

The recipe is here.
Now, I'm not making this post to be preachy...far from it.  I just wanted to share some things that have worked for me (or that I'm willing to try) to save money at the grocery store.  It makes me feel better, also, knowing the ingredients I'm putting into something my whole family uses.  Who knew these things could be made with so few ingredients.

Same with the canning and freezing I do.   I know what's in the food because I'm the one putting it in there.  I'm starting small.

You can too.  Ask me anything.  I'm grateful to share!

I'm a lover

I'm a big lover of books.

I'm also a big lover of movies.

I'm a big lover of books that are turned into movies...some of the time.

I'm always curious to see if the movie either follows the book, or goes way off track.

So, for Truth Thursday, which I'm bringing back today, on Thursday, after many, many months, I'll give you my run-down on some of my favorite books that were turned into movies.

You know I love my lists.

1.  Possession by A.S. Byatt.

I actually watched the movie first.  It was a good movie. 

I loved it from the start.  A little bit of mystery, a little scandal, sucked me right in.  I'm reading the book now because I haven't been to the library for a week and my current stash of books from my own "library" have been read so many times, they are old to me right now...so I'm reading this.  It's ok.  A lot of things in the book as far as poetry, etc. were left out of the movie, and that's a good thing.  I'm skipping over lots of that in the book.  The storyline in the movie does follow the book pretty well, so I'd recommend this. 

2.  I'm embarrassed by my number 2 choice.  I am only sharing it, because the books were so much better than the movies, and because my book club read every one of the series, and we've went together to see every movie.

Please don't judge me.  The books were easy to read, and I liked how the author, a Mormon, advocated no premarital sex.  That was good.  Then we went to see the movies.

What a bad idea.  What terrible acting!  Now, the group of us just goes to get a good laugh at the "constipated" expressions on some of the actors who are trying to look so serious!  I would stick with just the books.

3.  The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks.

Great book.  One of the first of his I ever read.  Great story.  Sad, romantic.  All around good. 

Then there was the movie.

It was a GREAT movie.  Great actors.  Great following the storyline of the book.  I would totally recommend both.

4.  The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.

I read the book first, and I liked it, but it was so hard to follow with all the jumping around/time traveling.  It made it a little hard to read, not because of the length, but because of the having to concentrate so hard to stay on track.  I did like it, though, but I was glad when the movie came out.

It was another Rachel McAdams movie.  I like her.  The movie was a little easier to understand than the book, which I liked.  It made it more real.  It was sad, and romantic, and perplexing.  I would probably watch it again.  I would recommend the movie over the book.

5.  Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet.

This is a THICK book.  No joke, you won't be able to hold it with one hand while you drink your coffee and eat your breakfast.  (not that I've tried that or anything....)  It, however, was a wonderful book.  I really liked it.  There are parts to pass over a little, but overall, it's a great story.

Then, I saw that Netflix had the series, and I decided to watch it.

Wow.  It was GREAT too.  Good storyline, good actors, great drama.  I would recommend both.

Last on my list.  (I promise...I mean, are you really taking my opinions to heart?)

6.  The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis.

I read this series in 4th grade people.  That's 28 years ago.  And they have stuck with me since then.  I remember reading them.  I even remember where the librarian had them placed in the library.  I gravitated towards them.  At the time, they were a little "scandalous."  (Maybe that was just my 4th grade imagination.)  They were a little science-fictiony, and a little fantastic.  I LOVED reading them. 

When my kids came of age, I tried to get them to read them.  They didn't feel quite so strongly as I did about them.  Evan is starting to read them now.  He got interested because we started watching the movies as a family.

They are all (all 4 of them) excellent movies.  With a great moral to them.  The lion represents God/Jesus.  Our kids have asked so many questions after we've watched these together.  I think Disney did a great job with them all.  I would recommend both the books and the movie.

Well, now that I'm done with my little list...I hope you've found something to take away from it.  Maybe you can get one at the library this weekend and enjoy some time with it.

Have a relaxing weekend!