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Frugal Friday: $20 Car Seat

We needed an extra car seat for Matt's truck and ended up getting this Evenflo Triumph Advance car seat (retail price $139.99 and top rated by Consumer Reports) for $20!  How did we do this?  Well, by using my Swagbucks and ExpoTV winnings.  I've been rewarded with Swagbucks for doing simple online searches and have been using my winnings to buy Amazon cards ($60 worth!).  And I ended up winning a $25 Amazon card from ExpoTV for a referral I made.  So, combining the Amazon sale and my giftcards, we spent $20 of our own money.  See?  Isn't it worth it?! 

Getting Swagbucks for simple searches is so easy to do and pays out in the end.  It's free to sign up and, as you can see, well worth it!  Try it out and see :)

You can read my post about Swagbucks here (since posting this, Swagbucks changed their prize increments...makes it even better to win now!)

You can read my post about ExpoTV here

Mills Street Chicken Tour

Frugal Friday: HT Super Double Coupons

Harris Teeter will sometimes have a super double coupon week where they will double coupons $1.99 and less.  This is one of those weeks and I wanted to show you all that combining sales and coupons pays off!

(2) Starbucks Frappucinos
(2) Velveeta Shells & Cheese
(1) Lays Kettle Chips
(3) Dole Fruit Crisps
(2) Starkist Tuna Pouches
(3) Stouffers Toasted Subs
(3) Digiorno for One Deep Dish Pizzas
(4) Tony's Cripsy Crust Pizzas
(1) 8th Continent Soy Milk
(4) Oscar Mayer Deli Creations
(4) Martha White Muffin Mixes
(1) Mott's Apple Sauce
(3) Bounty 2 pk. Paper Towels
(2) Ortega Fajita Seasonings
(3) McCormick Seasonings (chili powder, cinnamon, parsley)
(1) Scott's Bath Tissue 8 pk.
(2) Dove Solid Deodorant
(1) Lime
(1) Broccoli bunch
(1) Green onions
(2) Nature's Own Multigrain Bread
(2) Tropicana OJ cartons
(4) Kraft shredded cheese
(2) Athenos Feta cheese
(1) Jarlsburg Deli Cheese
(3) Milk (gallon)
(6) Velveeta Cups
(1) Classico Sauce
(6) Yakisoba Noodles
(2) El Monterey Tornados
(3) Kraft 100 Calorie Pack Cheese
(2) Fiber One Yogurt 4 pk.
(1) Renu Contact Solution (travel size)
(1) Desitin Ointment
(1) A&D Ointment
(1) Graduates Smart Sips 4 pk.
(1) Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts 5.13 lbs.
(1) Bag Raw Shrimp 2 lbs.

Total Cost Out of Pocket = $50.30
Total Sale & Coupon Savings = $262.05

I know, I know, there are probably some of you ready to give me a lecture on processed food, though I did get a lot of fresh stuff (chicken, shrimp, 3 gallons of milk, soy milk, cheese to last us for months, broccoli, lime, green onions, OJ, multigrain bread)!  Well, just a disclaimer...We try and eat healthy everyday, but some days this happens between 4:30-6:00pm:

And, well, I realize that my healthy dinner is just not going to be made that night.  So that's when I whip out one of our emergency meals :)

So, if you're interested in starting to coupon, check out my "Good for the Wallet" link at the top of the page to get started!

Little Rock Trip

Here are some pictures of our trip to Little Rock a few weeks ago:

The Sunday service at Fellowship Bible Church was devoted to celebrating what God has done the past 10 years through Fellowship Associate's church planting program.

Interviewing some of the church planters (from Philly, Kansas, Atlanta, Denver, Long Beach, and Dubai)

Steve Snider talks about the Fellowship network.  Look at that map above him...All those dots are church plants!

I had the chance to see some old friends from the year we were there, as well as meet tons of great ladies from years before and after me!  It was so encouraging to know that everyone was going through the same ups and downs of church planting.

I just had to add this picture in cause I LOVE the Embassy Suites (especially the breakfast!) and was so thankful we got to stay there :)

Prisms and Ministry

Matt and I had a chance to go back to Little Rock last weekend for a Fellowship Associates church planters' reunion.  FA has been planting churches for the past 10 years and more than 40 church planting families were able to make it out! 

Among the many things that we did (which I'll share about in a separate post), the wives were able to get together and be loved on by Carolyn Wellons and Kimberly Pruitt, two women that mentored us during our year in Little Rock.  We were each given a prism, which currently resides in my kitchen window.  I thought I'd share this neat little object lesson with y'all.

Just like a prism, each of us has a unique shape, cut, and design.  As the light shines through the prism, the various cuts and angles allow for the light to refract (thank you 8th grade science class gelatin/lightbox project), creating rainbows around the room.  The prism will only create these brilliant colors when in contact with light.  Similarly, we need to be in constant contact with God if we are to do ministry well.  God will be glorified through us only if we are in constant communion with Him.  And when we are, God works through us and our unique design to create ministry results that are beautiful and unqiue.  Thanks, Carolyn and Kimberly, for this convicting encouragement to me!