Computer Issues are the Worst!

Our computer has been out of commission for over a week now and I have been going crazy! Okay, not really for a while I enjoyed it - until it was time to go grocery shopping. A computer is a must to find coupon matchups, etc.

Well, we purchased a new computer this week and my hubby just set everything up...so I'm back to blogging. I have a great giveaway coming up and some fun things to share. Please stay tuned...

My New Game Closet

I have always wanted a game closet in our house. Our house has a large storage room off of the kitchen so the games have always been there. When we wanted to play a game it was always so inconvenient to go dig one out of the storage room. Then I though of a solution. We have this tiny closet in our living room that is supposed to be a coat closet. There were a few coats in it, but we never used the closet. We have a hanging rack by the front door for coats - so I decided that we would convert it into our game closet. My kids had never seen the closet empty before, so they enjoyed playing in it after we cleaned it out. (Do you like how my daughter is wearing dinosaur pajamas? I have never bought her girly pajamas - any that she has are gifts or hand me downs!)We had some old wood laying around in the garage, so my hubby cut it to size for brackets and shelves.

Voila! My game closet. I love it so much! I did have to get rid of 3 games to get them all to fit, but that's fine with me. They were games we hardly ever played.

Now all of our games are at our fingertips...I think family game nights will start happening way more often around here.

Side note...what are some of your favorite board games?

We have some unusual games as favorites:

1. Pig Mania (pigs as dice, it is so wierd, but so fun!)
2. Milles Bournes (a french card game all about driving - so fun!)

I don't know if they make either of these anymore - we found them at thrift stores for super cheap.

Motivation

I was feeling a little unmotivated this morning, but I had so much to do. You know those days? I hate them.

Anyway.

I posted a status update on Facebook that said:

Michelle is in need of some motivation...

About an hour later I got back on my computer and checked Facebook and received one response to my request for motivation. My uncle who I honestly don't know very well and have only met a few times in my life left the most uplifting response that truly changed my outlook:

Obviously you have forgotten who you are: The daughter of heroes, the wife of a saint, the mother of miracles, and the friend of multiple admirers. If that doesn't motivate you then think of the magical body you have that has articulating fingers, binocular vision, the heart of a lover, the vision of a friend, and a child of God. I could go on but by now you should be tuned in. Go rock your world!

It made me realize how often I get bogged down with life that I take for granted what a miracle life really is. I am blessed beyond measure. I am all of those things and I have all of those things. I have so much to be grateful for. Reading that truly did change my day. It made me want to be a better person, wife, mother, and friend. My mundane life didn't feel so mundane anymore. I have a purpose. I hope I can pray I can live up to more than a portion of what God have been me with.

From now on when I am feeling down, sad, lonely, unmotivated I will remember these simple and powerful words then I will go rock my world!

Shopping Day

My cute son Owen turned 4 this summer is now attending preschool. I am just sitting here wondering where all the time went!

This is a long confusing story, so try to keep up...:)I work two days per week (Monday and Tuesday), and preschool is Tuesday and Thursday. My MIL watches my kids on Monday and Tuesday (it is such a blessing!). I have a great arrangement with her for preschool. Preschool is close to her house and isn't close to mine. She takes him on Tuesday when I am at work, then on Thursday my husband drops him off at her house on the way to work, then takes him to preschool. I just have to pick him up. I get to be all alone with my daughter during that time.

That has been another great blessing. We have turned our Thursdays into our grocery shopping days and it has been so much fun with just the two of us! She will actually stay in the cart, which is great. We also get to go check out stores that we don't live near like Boise Bargain Basket.

Have a great day! We are off for another shopping day!

I'm back!

So has everyone had a chance to make the Creamy Black Bean Dip yet? After all, I did leave it up for about a month!

I decided to take an unscheduled blogging break for many reasons. Mostly I just felt like I have been so worried and focused on my blog and making sure I was posting and neglecting the things that really matter. My husband. My kids. My house. Myself. Now that I have taken this break I think I am different. I think my blog will be different. I think it will be a good thing.

I have some fun and exciting posts to come - and a great giveaway coming. So please stay tuned!

-Michelle

Frugal Friday - Substitution List

There are so many times that I run out of something when I am making a recipe. In the past I would run to the store and buy said item. Not anymore with my new frugal ways!

Today I wanted to make these Molten Chocolate Cakes, but I didn't have semi-sweet chocolate squares. I did some Swagbucks searching and found this awesome substitution list. I used 3 T. of cocoa + 1 T. of butter for each square. It worked like a charm. I have totally bookmarked this list. I know it will come in handy for many future baking adventures!

For more Frugal Friday ideas check out Life as Mom!

-Michelle

Reverse Tornado

I got this picture here.

My husband is so cute. I work full days outside the home on Monday and Tuesday and between that and the weekend, my house usually goes to you know where in a handbasket. Kudos to you moms who work full time outside the home and keep it together! Anyway, Wednesday is my catch up day. My husband never says anything about the house being a mess. I love that about him.

Today he came home from work to a spotless (more or less) house. He said to me - it looks like our house was hit by a reverse tornado! I laughed so hard I cried.

-Michelle

Happy Blogiversary to Me!!

I can't even believe this...but it has been a year since I started Saving Some Green! What a year it has been! Here are some of the highlights of the past year:

1. I have "met" some really great bloggers and readers through blogging!


2. I have enjoyed the accountability that blogging provides. It helps me stay (relatively) within my budget!


3. I now take pictures of my food so I can post it online. Somehow, it doesn't seem weird anymore - even to my family!


4. I have enjoyed sharing the ups and downs of my life with all of you!


5. I have made a few bucks!


6. I have received a TON of FREE Stuff!!


7. I have found my niche in the money saving arena - I'm not obsessed with getting every deal and I love that I am okay with that!

Not only that, but the last year has brought a lot of joy to my non-blogging life. I just surpassed going from working full-time outside the home to working only part-time two days per week. I started blogging as a way to fill up all the time I seemed to have when I was home. Now I can't believe I thought I had so much free time!

This year it has also been fun to see my husband transition into our "new" lives together. Instead of the weekends being rush, rush, rush we have enjoyed doing family activities together. I still don't think he is used to having dinner on the table when he gets home (almost) every day!

In the past year, my kids have grown so much! They have gone from this:

To this:

Sometimes it makes me sad that they are so grown up! We would also love to add to our family - and we are leaving that in the Lord's hands. I'm so thankful for my precious family!

Thanks to all of you for helping to make this a great year in my life and I look forward to many more!

-Michelle

The last can of soup...

Last year in September I bought a TON of soup from Albertson's on a great sale. I was sad to see that I pulled out the last can of Cream of Chicken soup to make for dinner tonight!

I still have quite a bit of Cream of Mushroom and Tomato, but I'm hoping for another great sale in September...I know to buy more chicken and less mushroom!

-Michelle

A break...

It seems like my life has been a bit crazy the last few weeks.

I just realized it has been almost a week since my last post. Apparently, blogging has been the last thing on my mind!

I hope to get back in the swing of things in the next few days.

Stay tuned!

-Michelle

You know you have an obsession when...

...your son asks you to hurry and take a picture of the groceries...

...so he can eat a banana.

-Michelle

Garden Bounty

Crazy life...

My life has been crazy lately...and my blog is suffering! I feel like my recent posts have lacked the oomph that I hope to have. We took a weekend trip, it was fun, but made me realize why we don't do it that often. It is a lot of work with two kids. I can't imagine what you mothers with several kids do! I am still unpacking, doing laundry, and reorganizing our lives and we got home on Sunday!

Our computer has also been acting up lately, crashing at the worst possible times, etc. so we purchased a new hard drive and reinstalled windows. It seems to be doing better (during our pre-frugal days we would have just ditched this computer and purchased a new computer on a credit card!).

Now that my life and my computer are back to normal...hopefully my blog will be too :)! Stay tuned, I have some fun new ideas, challenges, and recipes to share!

-Michelle