Thanksgiving!

It's that time of the year. One of the BEST holidays America has to offer. Don't you think? I mean an entire day to ponder what your blessings are. To spend with your amazing family, to eat really great food and to offer thanks to the maker of the universe who sent His son to die for us, just because He loves us that much!

I am so thankful for my blessings, but I will be honest, sometimes I don't focus on them like I should.

I mean, I am so blessed. Overwhelmingly so....

So it just seems right to stop at least one day a year and list your blessings and then pray to God, thanking Him for all He has given you...

I will start my list here, but I don't think I will be able to list them all...

1. Jesus Christ as my savior
2. Jesus Christ as my best friend
3. Darbie Michelle...amazing daughter
4. Teaching
5. Touching lives
6. Teenagers...they are very cool
7. Joe
8. My sister, and the man that loves her
9. Julia
10. A.J.
11. My amazing mom
12. My amazing dad
13. My warm home, temperature and atmosphere
14. a car that runs
15. my job...where I work and who I work with
16. my best friends...they are such blessings to me
17. photography
18. Texas!!!
19. my students, past and present
20. my cousins...they are my first friends and I love EVERYONE of them
21. my aunts
22. my uncles
23. Gran and Grandma Alice
24. My mom and dad being close enough to have a relationship with their grandaughter, Darbie...way important, can not be replaced
25. Anna Football
26. Anna School District
27. Darbie's friends...they are blessings, everyone of them!
28. 1st Baptist Anna...nothing like a good church home
29. clean closets
30. health...mine and the ones I love
31. Baseball...all baseball and this year the memories My Texas Rangers gave me and my little family

God bless you and your family this Thanksgiving!

I'll Do It Later....

So I keep thinking, "You have a blog, use it"

Excuse after excuse finds me:

1. No one reads it, who cares?
2. I am so not a good writer...
3. Let me plan out my thesis and then I will type it, yeah, right!
4. I have nothing to say...

etc. etc. etc.

Then I have this pang in my thoughts, "You really should write this stuff down. It's this little stuff that matters. You don't have to tell a story or have an amazing plot, it's a blog for goodness sake! Who cares if no one reads it, it's your thoughts down on paper...sort of....and one day, Darbie may read and read it for wisdom, maybe when she is a momma! and for the last thought, your love language is Words of Affirmation!

So as I get mad at Darbie for putting her homework off for the last minute, or get frustrated at procrastination in anyway, I just have to look in the mirror and say Hello Pot, this is the Kettle!

So I am going to try to post a blog once a week...not every day, baby steps!

and that is my words of wisdom for today...baby steps...when you try to set goals and become a better person, and you are a big picture kind of person, such as myself...baby steps are hard! I visually see myself reaching that goal, so that is where I want to be the minute I set the goal!

My challenge is to visually see myself in the details of getting to that goal, and to go easy on myself! No need for perfection, just growth!

So baby steps it is...one blog a week, 2 to 3 pounds a week, QT w/ JC daily and look for the blessings....

Grocery Game Trip #1

The Groceries I Got During Week #1 of The Grocery Game


So I had a wonderful couple neighbors that came over and explained "The Grocery Game" to me. This is a photo of the groceries I was able to buy during my first week of being a member. Here are the numbers:

Total should have been: 197.16
What I paid: 88.61
What I saved: 108.55

I feel like for week number one, with no practice and only one weeks worth of coupons, that was a good trip to the store...actually two stores. One of the tricks to saving money in this game is to go to more than one store. This photo was two trips, one to Albertsons and one to Kroger.

I am so glad I had Darbie with me, or I would have been there longer...she pushed the basket and added up our total as we shopped but most importantly, I said what I was looking for and her amazing super speed processing saw the item in an average of less than 3 seconds. I love her processing speed and visual skills. If she were a super hero, her name today would have been Super Shopper. Her super power is Visual Speed!

I was mostly able to save this week based on specials and not as many coupons due to the fact that I only have one Sunday paper worth of coupons (just starting)....so subtract 3.00 for the paper from my savings and the grand total this week is 105.55....not bad for a couple hours work.

I have seen and heard stories more amazing than this amount saved, way more. I will post each week and hope that I can see my savings column get bigger.

"The Grocery Game" is free for one month so my plan is to use all the stores in my zip code area and look at their lists for 4 weeks. Choose my favorite one or two and pay for only those stores after the trial period is over. The total is 10 dollars for your first store and 5 dollars for each one after that for an 8 week period.

Also, during this month I am hoping to gather up as many coupons as possible, get quicker at making my lists and stream lining the process so that when summer vacation is over I am able to do this game quickly after work starts. Of course, Darbie has to go with me, she was a ton of help!

Thank you, Darbie!

If you are interested, I would love to pay it forward and once I understand the game, I would love to tutor you as well!

Happy Shopping, or should I say, Happy Saving!

I am so excited about this and feel very competitive about it already...wanting to beat my total each week.

Also, I was very adamant that I don't buy anything I wasn't already going to buy just because I had a coupon for it and guess what, I stuck to that goal 100%!!!

I needed cereal, so we got the one on sale that I had a coupon for. You can't be brand loyal...It's all about the sale and coupons together. I did that with snacks, chips, drinks etc.

I want to thank Dawn and Tanya for the tutorial and I want to thank Kristen for adding to my free groceries this week from her stockpile.

Carwash Fundraiser

Today the Drill Team is trying to raise money for their expenses. The fundraiser was perfect on this hot Texas day...a car wash!

Here is a shot of Darbie scrubbing and rinsing the cars. Let's just say, she is fast asleep on the couch right now and I am not sure but I think this is her once a year nap!

Is This Summer? Time for Tea?

I can't believe we are so far into the summer vacation. Where has the time gone? It's gone into organizing, spring (summer) cleaning and getting the to do list down to a manageable check off. It feels so good to get things done. Sometimes I write things I have done on the list, just so I can cross them off!

My next "project" is to have a documented day of photos of a day in the life of Darbie and myself.

I am going to take some fun photos of us doing daily things because to be honest....I think we forget about taking those kinds of photos and capturing the day to day things that you do, the real memories.

So the next post will hopefully be regular everyday photos of the normal things...

PJ's till 10, a drive to Sonic jamming to music I shouldn't even know at my age, watching T.V. (The Rangers to be exact), on the computer, chores etc...maybe and hopefully even a tea party...we use to have these together a lot and this tradition has gone by the wayside with busy schedules....but this summer it will be brought back to life as you are never out of age to do a tea party. Darbie and I use to do these when she was a wee little girl and I have not one photo of this anywhere...shame...but if you are a mother of a daughter it's never too early or too late to have a tea party with her. This is a tradition that is timeless...and as she ages she will never age out of a sip of hot tea and conversation...so start this tradition...it's worth it and take photos...one or two to share with her over tea 10 years later...promise it will be worth it!

Willy Wonka, jr.

Willy Wonka, jr.

click on the name to watch the video

Day 2

I did it, no eating at a fast food restaurant today!

Out of habit, I did buy a Mr. Pibb from the coke machine at school for lunch and then I stopped and thought, what am I doing? Such habits!

So, someone traded me a diet Coke and guess what? I only drank half of it!

Celebrate the baby steps and keep making tiny changes.

Tonight, I work on my Bible Study. We are doing Beth Moore's "Ester". It is incredible. Beth does not play...she is that hard teacher that made you do lots of homework in high school and you didn't love her until the class was over and you processed how much she loved you and how much she taught you!

I have always had a special place in my heart for Ester. She reminds me of Darbie a little bit and now to do such an in-depth study of her, well I am loving her even more!

I'm off to pack my lunch and get to bed early...all this "attention" feels great! My heart is happy!

Day One Lessons

So it's almost midnight and before Day 2 is upon us, I must blog about my lessons from Day 1 of "Attention Seeking".

I learned that it is good to have a plan, but just like Lesson Plans for the classroom, things don't always go as planned so be flexible...

Lessons:

1. Be careful how lofty your goal is as not to disappoint yourself! Take "baby steps" to coin a phrase from the great Dave Ramsey. I got half my house clean and some laundry done...tomorrow we can finish, no worries. We call that "diary mapping" at school.

2. Stop for teachable moments....Darbie asked me for help with a project and I didn't help her...ummm, I stuck to my goals of cleaning and didn't realize until it got quiet around here that I probably should have stopped to help because my 14 year old will soon one day not need me to help nor want me to, and well, there will always be laundry!

3. You CAN actually have food and not go to a fast food restaurant! Left overs for lunch, and spaghetti and garlic bread for dinner....two meals at home today!!! AND lots of water....see next point:

4. When you go to Braums for grocery shopping and your daughter eats an ice cream, you can eat a yogurt and throw half of it away because you are full...This one was a BIG lesson for me...I found something on the menu AND portion control came into play! That felt good! Like I said, Baby Steps! This one I am most proud of today!!!

5. When you are use to buying a rt 44 Dr Pepper at Sonic to drink while you clean your house and you instead buy a DIET one, it feels pretty good, and knowing one day you won't need a Dr Pepper AT ALL to clean your house...well, that feels even better...I would have had a big ole rt 44 ice tea but Anna still gets their water from a well and WELL it's gross! =)

6. Don't try to do it all in one day...it's not all or nothing...when you push yourself to finish and it is past bedtime, you get grumpy and you send your beautiful baby or 14 year old to bed remembering that you are grumpy instead of how wonderful the rest of your day was....that one hurts...nothing that can't be fixed, but listen to your body, when you are ready to go to bed and you are super tired...stop, even if your list isn't done!

7. I didn't get to my quiet time with God today, perhaps that may be why I got grumpy too...I am going to end my night with Him instead of starting it with Him...He understands....and He gives me way more GRACE than I give myself...maybe I should take notes from Him...after all, he did create the universe, He probably knows what it takes...

Thanks for all your words everyone! I will need them daily as this isn't something that is going to change overnight...bad eating habits, bad budget habits and not working out aren't things you can fix in one day...but I am an all or nothing person, so I will continue to need encouragement on the BABY STEPS I am taking...

Attention...we all need it!

Attention, those of you who know me, know I love that word and all that comes with it...I would love to be on the stage getting attention, I love when I get attention for things I do well, I even love cyber attention...Facebook, blog comments anything...it's why I teach, frankly...well one of the 1,000 of reasons I teach...what other job do you get to stand on a "stage" and receive undivided attention?

So why am I afraid to give it to myself? Of at least the parts of me that aren't as fun to attend to, like my health, my chores, my budget....etc......So time for a paradigm shift! Instead of thinking of these things as work, I am going to start thinking of them as attention...it should help with the motivation factor!

So when making a change, one needs a plan, right? Here is the plan for Sunday, Day 1 of attention:

First things first:

Quiet time with God, I skipped church today but I don't want to skip time with my Lord...100% of the time starting off with Him always makes my day better....why have I not learned this yet? So in hand with my daily devotional book and journal I must go because He deserves the most attention, let's be honest!

Next,

Cleaning this house...it has been ignored lately. Excuse is my schedule, but that's not a good reason. I have the best help in the world when it comes to hard work, Darbie! She is not afraid of hard work, never has been. She may even learn how to mow the yard today...she has asked me the last two springs to show her...I think she is ready!

Then,

Make a plan for the food I will consume this week. It's so easy to stop off at a fast food joint on the way home, seriously. But that is a temporary fix to a long term problem. I will be full for a few hours but my cholesterol and body % fat will go higher along with my health risks. Not to mention the example I am setting as a mom...I mean let's not get carried away here...I am a super single mom and I do not have an unsurmountable load of guilt, and Darbie is amazing...but we can always look for ways be better and this area defiantly needs my attention! So a grocery store list it is and eating at home it will be!

Not Last, but almost,

Looking at my budget...something else that has been ignored and needs attention....can I get an AMEN?

Almost last,

Exercise...I will make a plan to give myself this attention...I don't want this attention...but I need this attention....today's exercise will be the deep house work and yard work we will do...that DOES count, I don't care what anyone else says...but for the rest of the week....hmmmm, yoga at the place I pay for monthly? or boot camp with the girls at work? Not sure yet, but one of those it will be. I hate exercise...I do...I never was good at PE, never got chosen first, second or third for that matter on the recess playground, second to last was the spot reserved for me...and I never have yet to feel that "runner's high" everyone talks about...I want to, I really do! So many people I know can't wait to get their tennies on and go for it...the closest I have felt was in the yoga room, sweating it out and when I left...holy cow, I felt amazing...100% better....guess that's my answer for what I am doing the rest of the week for exercise....but instead of dreading this part of my new life, I am going to start looking at it as attention, because that my friends...I LOVE!

And Last,

Playing a board game or the Wii with my daughter! She I do give attention to...and that will continue...I love just talking to her, playing games with her, and my favorite is laughing with her!

So my paradigm shift will happen and instead of thinking about all these things as work and chores, I am going to look at it as "Look at all this attention I am getting!"

Now I am off to give attention to the one that actually deserves it the most....I might even get my Bible study lessons done before Wednesday night at this rate.... =)

It's Official! I'm in buisness...

so excited to announce that I am now officially the owner of "Jodie Christine Photography".

My heart is bursting with excitment and pride to get this buisness up and going...to tell people's story through a visual means and to honor God who gave me this gift!

Keep in touch and I will let you know how things are going! =)

It's just Dodgeball!

Wow...

So I helped ref a dodgeball tourney this weekend.

I had no idea how serious people take kids throwing balls at other kids.

I leaned over to the other refs and said "This ain't your mamma's dodgeball"

I remember playing the game at the local neighborhood park against a chain link baseball fence.

It was fun and there were no adults yelling from the sidelines what to do. We had to problem solve on our own and if we got hit, we left the field.

It was fun and to be honest, I don't know if we won or lost on most days...I do know it was always girls vs. boys and the boys always felt bad, but the girls never cried...it was more like a flirting match...and lots of laughing!

The tourney this weekend was a lot of fun and people watching was the best...and it did my heart so good to see the 100's of honest kids...

but in life, as in dodgeball there were a few bad apples (98% of them being adults) and as I watched them acting a fool, let's just say, again, lots of laughing!

Time Flies!

Why does time fly when you are having fun?

Not sure, but I love it and I love having fun!

My "bestie" as Darbie calls all her best friends at school, came over today to help me put away Christmas decorations, after we went to her house to break down boxes from her move.

For some reason this company of friends, (Darbie had Lexi over, too) helped the time fly...we got the boxes done at April's in 30 minutes or less and we got our house decorations done in less than an hour. AND to top it off it was fun...

We all laughed and told stories and just got the chores done with ease...

So as they say "A spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down" and "Whistle while you work"!!! It's good advise! Thanks, Walt!

My Heart

It is getting close to Valentine's Day, so I changed my blog background and put love songs on the page for all to enjoy. So of course this leads me to my heart...what is in it?

I have felt my heart stir lately for a change or addition to my life. I think I want to add my photography buisness to my life. I have had a friend, Tricia, light a fire under me to get the buisness started.

So I am going to look into this...I'll keep you posted.