Owls...Why I love them and why they're important to Spot My Eye Savings!

I couldn't pass this one up!  Owls have been the theme of Spot My Eye Savings ever since this blog started.  Some of you know my "how I started couponing" story, but some of you don't.  Here's my story:

In early 2005 I was diagnosed with a life-threatening blood disorder called Hypereosinophilic Syndrome.  We were also in the process of adopting a child during this time so as you can imagine, finances were TIGHT!  Fast forward a few years....we had completed the adoption process welcoming a beautiful baby girl into our family.  We were also still trying to figure out this very complicated and rare disease that I had been diagnosed with.  Money got even tighter!  I was doing my best to make ends meet financially.  My husband was working long hours and even doing some side jobs at home.  We had started budgeting better, but no matter what we did we had more money going out then we had coming in.  We didn't know what to do, but I knew Who to go to.

In James 1:5 Scripture is telling us that we can ask for wisdom...

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.


I remembered this Bible verse and decided to ask God for wisdom in the area of finances.  I don't remember my specific prayer, but I do remember asking for that!  I knew that I didn't know everything there was to know about finances then...and the more I keep learning the more I've learned that I still don't know everything yet!


The next morning after that prayer I read on line about a friend of mine that was saving big bucks on her grocery shopping.  She was kind enough to invite me over and show me a few pointers on shopping with coupons.  From there I went home and learned the rest on my own.  I spent many hours scouring anything and everything I could find about coupon shopping.  I read TONS of information and after many months decided to start sharing what I had learned with others.  


When designing this blog I chose to go with Owls because they represent wisdom...the very thing that the Lord was so gracious to give me when I asked for it!  He continues to give me more wisdom in this area and I'm growing in knowledge of other ways to save money beyond coupons! 


So, as long as I have the blog you'll see little craft posts that feature owls from time to time!  They remind me of why I do what I do and well, I like them too...they've kind of grown on me!


Want to learn how to make the Leather Owl Bag pictured above?  Here's a great tutorial with step-by-step instructions!


Why Spot My Eye???  Find the answer to that question HERE!

Cleaning out the Clutter ~ Master Bedroom

I'm slowing working on cleaning our the clutter around the house.  My friends (the ones that are allowed to see every nook and cranny in my house) will testify that my home is not perfect, however, it's usually pretty well picked up and organized.

This summer has been a different story!  With three kids in 3 different stages of life, involved in various activities this summer which requires me to be "taxi mom" and don't forget, my lovely disease that likes to slow me down...chores and cleaning have just been on the back burner this summer.  We've also vacationed, just finished VBS and in less than a week we'll be off to Korea Camp!  Do any of you identify with me???  :)

I can only take an unorganized, messy home for so long before I have to do something about it, so that's why I challenged myself to blog about it.  I knew that if I blogged about it I would be forced to do it!  It's weird posting photos of my home on here, but I figure why not!  I like to be "real" with you all and I certainly don't want anyone to think that I have everything all figured out.  

My bedroom seems to be the room that is the last one to ever get cleaned.  Maybe that's because few people see my room???  However, I believe that a bedroom should be a sanctuary of sorts.  I honestly don't like my office being in my room, but we've found that our bedroom is the best place for it right now.  So, I have my office in my corner as you can see if the photo below.

First, I washed the bedding and made the bed...even dusted the headboard!  

Next, I tackled the dresser by cleaning off the top and putting everything in its proper place along with cleaning out each drawer and dusted the dresser.  

The last big thing was the desk.  It gets piled up with Spot My Eye papers, coupons and many other things.  EVERYTHING was put in its proper place and then I dusted the desk  

All of this sounds fairly simple but took me about 5 hours to do since I sorted and filed papers, sorted some laundry and other items to put in my garage sale box, etc.  Then I vacuumed!  It was worth the 5 hours of cleaning to get it all done!  Now, to keep it this way!  :) 

Are any of you cleaning along with me?  What are you working on?  I'd love to know and we can encourage each other.  Leave me a message below!

The bed and office BEFORE they got cleaned.  Zoom in to get a closer view of the desk (my office) if you'd like.  Yes, I'm that brave!

This was a HUGE problem!  The clutter catcher of the house!  Remember me posting about winning a DVD/BluRay player from Koolaid?  If you look closely the box is sitting next to the dresser.  I never did get around to taking a picture of it to post on the blog so this one will have to do!  

Bed all made up!  Do you all have throw pillows for your bed?   

So much better!

My clean desk!  Look...I have a phone at my desk that still has a cord!  My grandma bought me the little world bank when were went shopping together one day when I was about 5 years old.    :)

Stretching the buck on laundry detergent

The last few weeks around here have been crazy! With Vacation Bible School and the boys at camps and mission trips along with Emalee's Korea camp coming up my laundry pile has been steadily growing.  I've spent some time today trying to catch up on the never ending pile and thought I'd share my most favorite way to save money on laundry detergent.  I love making my dollars stretch!

I've read several different ideas about saving money on laundry and even wrote a savings post about it.  This tip is included in that post, but I thought I'd suggest it again....

Dilute your detergent half and half with water.  This is for liquid laundry detergent.  To do this just save your last empty container.  Empty half of the detergent from your new container into the empty container.  Fill both containers the rest of the way with water.  Now you have 2 bottles of laundry detergent rather than just one!

I've done this for several weeks now and haven't noticed a difference in the cleanliness of my clothing.  My boys are hard on their clothing too!  They mow lawns, have football practice and play outside all of the time!  Trust me when I say that this works!  If you don't believe me just give it a try and at least see if it works for you.  You never know unless you try!

Cleaning out the Clutter ~ Emalee's Room

Today is the first post in my "Cleaning out the Clutter" series!  The sweet photo above is of Emalee in her bedroom.  She likes to surround herself with plenty of toys.  On this particular day I was actually cleaning out her closet (notice the clothing on the floor) and she was entertaining herself as I was busily switching the Fall clothing to Summer clothing.  Funny thing is that I forgot to take before and after photos of the closet!  :)  However, I did take before and after photos of her room.  She posed for a few of them!  LOL!

I plan on having a garage sale in the early Fall where I'll sale the items from my my "decluttering" in it.  I try to cleaning out the clutter in our house at least twice a year.  I'm not sure how we accumulate so much extra STUFF, but I've found that all that extra STUFF can keep me pretty busy.  I feel so much more relaxed when my house is clean and decluttered.

Do any of you want to join me?  Feel free to post a comment below or post your before and after pics on the facebook page!

AFTER the room was cleaned up!  Much better!  :)

Still in her toddler bed.  We're getting her a twin bed in just a few weeks!

Series: Becoming Debt Free...The Voice of Truth!

 
If you missed the previous posts in this series you can find them all right HERE!


We waited almost 2 1/2 years to meet our little Emalee!  Finally, on December 20, 2006 we got a phone call from our adoption agency with the news.  We were so excited to tell our family about our new addition and did just that as a Christmas surprise for my parents.  I don't want to go into much detail about our adoption story in this post, but if you'd like the read our entire adoption story just go HERE.

Early 2007 brought us a HUGE ice storm and later on that spring, March 22 we boarded a jet to Seoul, South Korea to pick up Emalee!

Me and Emalee meeting for the first time.  I'm giving her some long awaited mommy kisses!

The rest of 2007 was pretty uneventful.   We primarily focused on bonding with Emalee, getting the boys in their new school and just carrying on with our normal family routine.  

The one thing that I wanted to point out that started happening during this time was the influx of gifts that we received from people for our adoption.  Many family members, friends and our church gave us monetary gifts as well as formula, diapers and clothing.

When we first heard the Lord's voice and chose to follow His direction we specifically asked Him to provide for our adoption.  If you don't already know this, adoptions can be VERY expensive.  Some adoptions, depending on the process, are NOT pricey.  For some reason the Lord lead our hearts to international adoption and that IS pricey!  Some people have asked us to explain why we chose international adoption over domestic adoption.  My answer to that is simple....We didn't choose it...God did...We chose to obey Him!  We're glad we did!  

Was it easy?  No!  There were times that I would get remarks from people (some that we loved and trusted dearly) that really hurt me.  In those times I had to remind myself to go back to the beginning.  Go back to God's initial calling.  Go back to the Scripture that He used to confirm that calling.  It was Him that called us to this.  He spoke to me very clearly one day through the song linked below. 

YouTube - ‪Voice Of Truth - Casting Crowns

I learned a very big lesson during this process:  

God's Voice of Truth is all that matters!  The world's voice is very loud....not like God's still, small voice.  The world's voice can be very deceitful...sometimes sounding like God's voice, but it's NOT God's voice.  It MUST line up with God's Word!  We MUST be in His Word to be able to know His Voice and to discern between the two!

I'm still overwhelmed with the generosity that was shared to us by others.  Some of that continues to this very day...continuing to prove to us that God is our Provider!  I have one friend that has supplied almost every stitch of clothing that Emalee has ever worn by giving us her daughters hand me downs.  I seriously have only HAD to buy Emalee some socks and shoes.  It seems like such a simple gesture to most people, but to us it has meant the world!!!  I don't know how to thank all of our friends and family (you know who you are) for your love and support as we've brought Emalee into our family.  She's been home just over 4 years and has blossomed into a beautiful, bouncy little girl that we love and adore beyond our wildest dreams!  

My love for Magic Erasers unveiled!

 I have a little 4 year old budding artist in my home.  For some reason she thought that her table was more fun to draw on than her paper.  I will say that she knows better, but some things just happen when mama isn't looking!  :)
I thought I'd use this as an example to show you all why I love Magic Erasers!   All they need is a little water and just a dab of elbow grease! I took these photos at night time in a dark room, so they're not as bright as they should be, but I think you'll get the idea.  You can click on the photos to enlarge them to see more detail.

What are some things you use Magic Erasers for?  Share in the comments section below or in the comments on facebook!

Before Magic Eraser

After being cleaned with a Magic Eraser

Carpe diem.....Seize the Day!

                               


Carpe diem is a phrase from a Latin poem by Horace (see "Source" section below) that has become an aphorism. It is popularly translated as "seize the day". Carpe literally means "to pick, pluck, pluck off, cull, crop, gather", but Ovid used the word in the sense of, "To enjoy, seize, use, make use of".^[1]      
(Taken from Widipedia)


I'm going to go with Ovid's interpretation as I have much to do today!  Forgive me for the lack of posts as I am taking care of some much needed housework around here today.  On top of the housework I have some paper work that the IRS is needing from us concerning the adoption of our daughter.  I'll be spending some time gathering that information as well.
Hopefully, I can get everything done and return tomorrow!

4th of July weekend!

Hope you all enjoy this weekend!  We're going to a celebration tonight with our Sunday School friends, and then Monday we're having friends over to our house!  What are your 4th of July celebration plans?

I'll get the drugstore deals up later today and maybe a few other deals, but after that probably not much until Monday.  Don't forget that I take most Sunday off from blogging!