Thursday, October 15, 2009
Monday, October 12, 2009
Proud Parents
The idea of "generosity" has really been on our hearts lately. It seems like every message we listen to or book we read is about giving and we have tried to make a conscious effort to be generous with the ways we spend our time and money.
It is also something close to us personally because our day-to-day lives are dependent on the generosity of other people - there is no way we'd ever be able to afford our beach condo without the generosity of David's grandparents and our families continue to support us by paying for our insurance, cell phones and even gas. We are extremely fortunate to have been given so much and it would be crazy for us not to give back.
Although we don't "make" a lot of money by America's standards, we are still in the top 11% of the world's most wealthy people (find out where you stand here). 11%! There are so many opportunities for us to give back, so last night we decided to "adopt" a child.
Adopting a child is something David and I have always been interested in, but obviously actually bringing home a kid is something we can't do right now. So we found one online instead! Compassion International is Christian-based adoption agency that helps more than 1 million children in 25 countries, and our sweet new "son" is 7 year old Thomas, from Uganda.
Just saving $1 from every hour your work in 1 week is enough to sponsor a child for a month. It is a great reminder that if you think you can't afford to make a huge difference in the life of a child, you're wrong.
Learning about Thomas has also put a lot in perspective - his mom is a farmer and in his free time, he plays with a HOOP. That's it, just a hoop. And his job is to carry water when he's not in school. The adults make an average of $5/day and they live in houses with cement floors and tin roofs.
We are so excited about serving and supporting Thomas, getting to know him and maybe even meeting him one day! If you are interested in "adopting" one of Thomas' friends or the thousands of other children that need help all over the world, check out Compassion International. Or if you're not ready to commit to a child of your own, consider making a contribution to serve poverty-stricken families in a number of different ways.
To whom much is given, much is required. Luke 12:48
Isn't he CUTE?!
It is also something close to us personally because our day-to-day lives are dependent on the generosity of other people - there is no way we'd ever be able to afford our beach condo without the generosity of David's grandparents and our families continue to support us by paying for our insurance, cell phones and even gas. We are extremely fortunate to have been given so much and it would be crazy for us not to give back.
Although we don't "make" a lot of money by America's standards, we are still in the top 11% of the world's most wealthy people (find out where you stand here). 11%! There are so many opportunities for us to give back, so last night we decided to "adopt" a child.
Adopting a child is something David and I have always been interested in, but obviously actually bringing home a kid is something we can't do right now. So we found one online instead! Compassion International is Christian-based adoption agency that helps more than 1 million children in 25 countries, and our sweet new "son" is 7 year old Thomas, from Uganda.
Just saving $1 from every hour your work in 1 week is enough to sponsor a child for a month. It is a great reminder that if you think you can't afford to make a huge difference in the life of a child, you're wrong.
Learning about Thomas has also put a lot in perspective - his mom is a farmer and in his free time, he plays with a HOOP. That's it, just a hoop. And his job is to carry water when he's not in school. The adults make an average of $5/day and they live in houses with cement floors and tin roofs.
We are so excited about serving and supporting Thomas, getting to know him and maybe even meeting him one day! If you are interested in "adopting" one of Thomas' friends or the thousands of other children that need help all over the world, check out Compassion International. Or if you're not ready to commit to a child of your own, consider making a contribution to serve poverty-stricken families in a number of different ways.
To whom much is given, much is required. Luke 12:48
Isn't he CUTE?!
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Food & Wine
The last 2 weeks have been crazy busy. Whatever happened to our days of just laying around and enjoying the beach?!
Our friends, the Ganleys, came down last weekend to visit us at the beach. We had a blast catching up with Joe and Christina and spending time at the beach and pool with Jackson and Anna.
And then this weekend, we went up to Orlando and stayed with them while we visited our friends Arianne and Diana and Brandon. What we thought was going to be a nice, relaxing weekend turned out to be better crazy but it was definitely fun!
Friday night we hung out with Arianne at Downtown Disney, Saturday we got up early for breakfast at Boma and then spent the rest of the day at Epcot for the Food & Wine Festival. To say it was incredibly hot and crowded is a huge understatement but we got to try lots of new food (like escargot!), ride some of our favorite rides and see Sister Hazel live! And then Saturday night we met up with Diana and Brandon at the Magic Kingdom. I guess everyone had the same idea as us because it was packed too, so we rode a few rides and called it a night.
There are times that I miss Orlando but this weekend helped me remember a lot of what I don't miss too. Like crowds. And insane traffic. And tourists. It's good to be home!
Our friends, the Ganleys, came down last weekend to visit us at the beach. We had a blast catching up with Joe and Christina and spending time at the beach and pool with Jackson and Anna.
And then this weekend, we went up to Orlando and stayed with them while we visited our friends Arianne and Diana and Brandon. What we thought was going to be a nice, relaxing weekend turned out to be better crazy but it was definitely fun!
Friday night we hung out with Arianne at Downtown Disney, Saturday we got up early for breakfast at Boma and then spent the rest of the day at Epcot for the Food & Wine Festival. To say it was incredibly hot and crowded is a huge understatement but we got to try lots of new food (like escargot!), ride some of our favorite rides and see Sister Hazel live! And then Saturday night we met up with Diana and Brandon at the Magic Kingdom. I guess everyone had the same idea as us because it was packed too, so we rode a few rides and called it a night.
There are times that I miss Orlando but this weekend helped me remember a lot of what I don't miss too. Like crowds. And insane traffic. And tourists. It's good to be home!
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Backyard
Well, the Georgia/LSU game was terrible but the sunset here tonight was amazing and too beautiful not to take pictures of. I think I missed the last few seconds of game, but obviously nothing important (like Georgia getting a touchdown) happened.
Our backyard is so beautiful and we are so thankful to be living here!
Our backyard is so beautiful and we are so thankful to be living here!
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Falling for Fall
Happy Fall! It seems like the rest of the country is finally getting some good fall weather and, while it's still hot & humid here, I am excited for the idea of sweaters, apples and crisp fall air.
The first day of fall was overshadowed here by our Kashi craziness, but in real life we celebrated by making a delicious hearty fall dinner adapted by a recipe in Runner's World. Honestly, it was a lot of work and I don't know if we've ever made anything this "from scratch" before (even though we used canned beans). We were both a little skeptical and had a backup plan in case dinner was a total flop but it turns out this stuff is AMAZING! It's full of fiber from the beans and rice and has a lot of flavor from the sausage, peppers and onions. It is the perfect fall recipe and you'll have lots of leftovers!
Ingredients:
5 c. chicken stock
2 c. brown rice
1 green pepper, chopped
1 red peppper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp. olive oil
12 oz. turkey sausage, cut into coins
1 15 oz. can white kidney beans
1 15 oz. can red kidney beans
1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 tsp. thyme
1 bay leaf
Hot sauce, to taste
Directions:
In a pot, bring stock and rice to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer until liquid is absored (about 40 min.). Saute peppers, onions and garlic in oil until softened. Add sausage and saute until brown. Add beans, 1 cup of bean liquid, diced tomatoes with juice, thyme and bay leaf. Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with hot sauce to taste. Add rice to bean mixture and stir to combine. Remove bay leaf and serve immediately.
Bon Appetit!
The first day of fall was overshadowed here by our Kashi craziness, but in real life we celebrated by making a delicious hearty fall dinner adapted by a recipe in Runner's World. Honestly, it was a lot of work and I don't know if we've ever made anything this "from scratch" before (even though we used canned beans). We were both a little skeptical and had a backup plan in case dinner was a total flop but it turns out this stuff is AMAZING! It's full of fiber from the beans and rice and has a lot of flavor from the sausage, peppers and onions. It is the perfect fall recipe and you'll have lots of leftovers!
Ingredients:
5 c. chicken stock
2 c. brown rice
1 green pepper, chopped
1 red peppper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp. olive oil
12 oz. turkey sausage, cut into coins
1 15 oz. can white kidney beans
1 15 oz. can red kidney beans
1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 tsp. thyme
1 bay leaf
Hot sauce, to taste
Directions:
In a pot, bring stock and rice to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer until liquid is absored (about 40 min.). Saute peppers, onions and garlic in oil until softened. Add sausage and saute until brown. Add beans, 1 cup of bean liquid, diced tomatoes with juice, thyme and bay leaf. Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with hot sauce to taste. Add rice to bean mixture and stir to combine. Remove bay leaf and serve immediately.
Bon Appetit!
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Free Ice Cream!
If you're not following the Southern Savers Blog, you should. Why? Because it has lots of fun information that you need to know. Like the fact that Carvel and Coldstone are giving away FREE ice cream today!
Carvel is giving away Oreo Lil Rounders from 3-7 for their annual Customer Appreciation Day and...
Coldstone is giving away cups of Jack's Creation (from 5-8), to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation. I love both Make-A-Wish and Coldstone so I'll be there and you should be too!
Carvel is giving away Oreo Lil Rounders from 3-7 for their annual Customer Appreciation Day and...
Coldstone is giving away cups of Jack's Creation (from 5-8), to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation. I love both Make-A-Wish and Coldstone so I'll be there and you should be too!
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Kashi Crazy
We've only been "couponing" for a few weeks now, but I think today was the most monumental day we're going to have for a long time...Let me explain...
About a month ago, David signed up to work at Kashi Day at Publix through an independent contractor. Basically he just handed out coupons and samples and got paid a lot of money. The money part was great, obviously (although the check came in the mail today) but he also came home with dozens of boxes of cereal, crackers, cookies and other snacks as well as hundreds of recyclable grocery bags (which we now use for everything) and thousands (literally) of coupons. We use the coupons occasionally when Kashi stuff goes on sale or if we have a craving for "7 whole grains on a mission" but today was the big kahuna.
All Kashi frozen food is 50% off at Publix! And our coupons are for $1 off. So today, we made 2 trips to Publix simply to stock up on frozen pizzas, waffles and lunches and after majorly clearing out the freezer, we...
spent less than $15 (for 9 frozen meals, 2 boxes of waffles and 3 decent-sized pizzas) and saved over $40!
Between the sale and our coupons, each frozen meal was less than $1, waffles were like $0.30 and the pizzas were less than $2! I know this isn't a big deal to everyone, but we are on a super strict budget and it is so fun to see the final price change right in front of your eyes. We still probably have over a thousand of our little coupons left so we'll be eating Kashi for a very, very long time.
If you need to stock up on your Kashi stash, let me know and we'll send some coupons your way!
About a month ago, David signed up to work at Kashi Day at Publix through an independent contractor. Basically he just handed out coupons and samples and got paid a lot of money. The money part was great, obviously (although the check came in the mail today) but he also came home with dozens of boxes of cereal, crackers, cookies and other snacks as well as hundreds of recyclable grocery bags (which we now use for everything) and thousands (literally) of coupons. We use the coupons occasionally when Kashi stuff goes on sale or if we have a craving for "7 whole grains on a mission" but today was the big kahuna.
All Kashi frozen food is 50% off at Publix! And our coupons are for $1 off. So today, we made 2 trips to Publix simply to stock up on frozen pizzas, waffles and lunches and after majorly clearing out the freezer, we...
spent less than $15 (for 9 frozen meals, 2 boxes of waffles and 3 decent-sized pizzas) and saved over $40!
Between the sale and our coupons, each frozen meal was less than $1, waffles were like $0.30 and the pizzas were less than $2! I know this isn't a big deal to everyone, but we are on a super strict budget and it is so fun to see the final price change right in front of your eyes. We still probably have over a thousand of our little coupons left so we'll be eating Kashi for a very, very long time.
If you need to stock up on your Kashi stash, let me know and we'll send some coupons your way!
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