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Here's What's New  
A HUGE thank you to Tara from Deal Seeking Mom for sending over this post from her Feedly reader when I thought it had forever vanished into the deep black hole of cyberspace. For those of you who didn’t get a chance to read this post last night before I somehow completely deleted almost all of it this morning, here you go…
Yesterday didn't end up like I'd planned, but it was a good day. I woke up at 2:30 a.m. — partly from jet lag and partly because my heart was really burdened for a friend of mine. She had texted me before I went to bed and was really, really struggling. She's going through a devastating life situation right now and my heart is pretty much just broken in two for her. So I woke up with her heavy on my heart and spent some time praying for her and trying to go back to sleep. I had gone to bed before 7:30 p.m. the night before, so I went ahead and got up at 3:30 a.m.since it was clear I wasn't going to be falling back to sleep. And I'm grateful I got up that early because of some of the unexpected things that happened later on in the day. The next few hours were spent catching up on emails, comments/social media, scheduling out some posts, going through possible deals to post today, and writing blog posts. 
I then exercised and had planned to read my Bible and shower, but the kids were now up and Jesse had arrived home from the gym and the grocery store, so I went down to the kitchen to make breakfast, go over our plans for the day with Jesse, and hang out with everyone. 
We had Trim Healthy Mama Pancakes — and we rolled them like crepes. I love this recipe and so does everyone in our family, including Jesse. I had taken a few pictures of my plate and then went over to get something else in the kitchen and when I turned around, this was what I saw: 
After he took pictures, he said, "I took 29 pictures for you, Mom. You can use them on your blog." It cracked me up and melted my heart. But not only that, this kid has some serious photography skills — or it was just a fluke, but pretty much all 29 photos looked like this –> 
After breakfast, the kids did their morning chores and Jesse put dinner in the crock pot (yes, he's amazing like that!), while I cleaned up the kitchen and started in on getting caught back up on laundry. I also worked on getting some house projects done that I had shelved for the past few days since I was trying to get over jet lag. 
Jesse took Kathrynne and Silas to the dentist to get fillings. (Since discovering that all our children are cavity-prone in the past few months, we've switched over to following Dr. Ellie's system and are so hoping that this will help significantly cut down on cavities in the future. It's certainly been working well for Kaitlynn, so we're hopeful it will work for all our kids. We'll see!) Kaitlynn and I stayed home and she worked on some projects and reading. I helped her and worked on laundry and finishing up my home projects/cleaning for the day. I then sat down to spend some time reading my Bible (I'm finishing up the She Reads Truth John Study) and write in my Blessings Journal. 
Kathrynne had been really nervous about going to the dentist and she ended up really having a hard there. So she was pretty exhausted/anxious/in pain when she arrived home. I went ahead and changed my plans for the rest of the day (I had planned to work on book edits for a few hours and do some writing) and spent the afternoon keeping her comfortable, making slushies, and reading aloud to the kids. We read extra from our Morning Time Basket reads and finished up our current read-aloud book. It was such a relaxing afternoon and we had so much fun reading together and just hanging out! Jesse took Kaitlynn and Silas to our Meaty Monday group and I stayed home with Kathrynne since she just didn't feel up to going. I finally got to tackle the refrigerator. 
I told you it needed some TLC. And I wasn't joking! 
So. much. better! How was your day yesterday? Did you get any cleaning/household projects done?
Update: Nevermind and yay! A HUGE thank you to Tara from Deal Seeking Mom who was able to recover the full post from her Feedly reader! You can read it here.
So, last night, I posted a long and detailed Day In My Life post full of pictures and tidbits on our day yesterday, as well as how my refrigerator cleaning went. Many, many of you clicked through on Facebook to read it and many of you saw it here. This morning, I was reading through it and noticed a few typos. I went to fix those and clicked to update the post. I’m not sure what happened in the process, but the entire post — except for one picture and two sentences — completely disappeared! I tried multiple methods to retrieve it and it appears to be gone forever. Sigh. Sometimes that’s just part of life — you spend a few hours on something only for it to be — poof! — gone. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know in case you wondered why it disappeared! 
Also: I had meant to choose & post a winner for the last Day in My Life giveaway and forgot to do so. So without further ado, the winner of the above prize package is HoosierMom (blueskyandsunshine2006@). I emailed you this morning with details on claiming your prize. 
I’m honored to be featured on the Brilliant Business Moms podcast again today talking about the subject of balance. I share how I manage my life, how I prioritize, and how I juggle multiple hats (blogging, mothering, writing, marriage, homeschooling, and having personal margin in my life). If you’ve ever wondered “how does she do it?”, you’ll want to check out this post and podcast. I think you’ll be encouraged to know that I don’t do it all… and one of my biggest “secrets” to success is only focusing on a few priorities and seeking to do those few things well. 
This year, our team is planning to do a select number of special Say Goodbye to Survival Mode events across the country. These will be one-night, high-energy events where I’ll be sharing two messages of encouragement: Session #1: Say Goodbye to Survival Mode
Life doesn't have to be one big chaotic mess of laundry, dishes, and to-do lists! This session is packed with empowering, practical encouragement and ideas you can implement to restore peace, purpose and passion into your lives. Session #2: Unleash Your Best You
Ever wonder if you're good enough? Wish you could make a difference in the world but feel trapped by doubts? In this session, you’ll discover three transforming truths that will help you move from insecurity to confidence so you can be all that God has called you to be.
Both presentations are engaging, authentic, and straight from my heart. I'll be sharing personal stories, inspirational ideas, and giving you practical steps to take to: - Stop living life feeling stuck, exhausted, and overwhelmed
- Determine your most important priorities & find time to invest in what really matters
- Move past loneliness and build authentic friendships with other women
- Break free from the lie that whispers "I'm not good enough"
We want to encourage as many women as possible to say goodbye to living life stuck in survival mode and start living life with passion and purpose, so we’re currently looking for a few more venues/churches to host a one-night Say Goodbye to Survival Mode event in 2015. If you are apart of a local group or church that would be interested in hosting this event, we’d love to chat with you about bringing this event to your area. Just fill out this form here and we'll be in touch with more information on dates we have available and how we can serve your church or women's group. Our team will work alongside you to help with details, marketing, publicity, and organization of the event. We want to make it as successful for you as possible! 
Join Us for Our First Event in Mississippi on February 6, 2015! Our first special one-night Say Goodbye to Survival Mode event will be held on February 6, 2015, in Purvis, Mississippi! If you live in the MS area and you haven’t done so already, be sure to find out more information about this event and purchase tickets here. We have a special group rate for those who'd like to invite a group of women to come. 
Homeland 4 Lemons – $0.25 each 2 Angel Soft Tissue Paper – $1 each, used 2 $0.45/1 coupon from the 1/4 RedPlum insert (1st one doubled) – $0.33 each after coupons 1 Sargento Deli Cheese – $2.50, used $0.55/1 printable (doubled) – $1.40 after coupon 1 Carefree Liners – $1, used $0.50/1 printable (doubled) – Free after coupon 10 cans Red Gold Tomatoes – $0.29 each 2 cans Planters Peanuts – $1.69 each, used $1/2 printable (doubled) – $0.69 each after coupon 1 El Monterey Frozen Breakfast Burritos – $2.49, used $1/1 printable (doubled) – $0.49 after coupon 1 box Sara Lee Snacks – $2, used $1/1 printable (doubled) – Free after coupon Total with tax ($1.19) after coupons and sales: $9.80  Dillons
1 Kroger Lemon Juice – $2.29 1 Kroger Frozen Orange Juice – $1.59 1 Romaine Lettuce – $0.99 1 gallon Dillons Milk – $2.50 1 Lady Speed Stick Deodorant – $0.89, used $0.50/1 printable – $0.39 after coupon 2 pkg Strawberries – $2 each 1 Muller Yogurt – $1, used Free e-coupon (no longer available) – Free after coupon 1 pkg Croissants – Marked down to $0.99 1 Softsoap Pump – $0.89, used $0.35/1 coupon from the 1/18 SmartSource insert – $0.54 after coupon 2 pkg Mission Tortillas – $1 each 1 Green Pepper – $0.99 0.80 lbs Roma Tomatoes – $1.19 1 Cucumber – $0.89 Items a part of the Mega Sale (Buy 6, Get $3 off instantly): 1 loaf Nature’s Harvest Bread – $1.50, used $0.55/1 peelie coupon – $0.95 after coupon 2 pkgs Kraft Shredded Cheese – $2.79 each, used $1/2 printable – $2.29 after coupon 4 7Up/A&W Pop ($0.75 each) and 2 pkg Pringles ($0.99 each) – Used 2 $1.50/3 printable – $0.33 each after coupons 1 Hormel Turkey Meat – $2.99, used $0.50/1 coupon from the 1/18 SmartSource insert – $2.49 after coupon 2 Ragu Pasta Sauce – $1.19 each, used $0.75/2 coupon from the 1/4 RedPlum insert – $0.81 each after coupon Total with tax ($2.25) after coupons and sales: $31.74 Total for all grocery items: $41.54 Menu Plan for this Week We will be gone for a couple days this week so I only planned for 5 meals. Breakfasts Cereal x 2, Leftover Blueberry Pancakes, Baked Oatmeal, Krispy Kreme Donuts (using a free coupon that was in the newspaper!) Lunches Turkey Sandwiches, Turkey/Cheese/Fruit/Veggies, Leftovers x 2, Cheese Quesadillas Dinners Blueberry Pancakes, Scrambled Eggs, Bacon, Fruit Spaghetti Pie, Tossed Salad, Lemon Bars (A request from my husband)  Chicken Fajitas, Fruit, Steamed Carrots Venison BBQ Meatballs, 30 Minute Rolls, Tossed Salad Beef Enchiladas, Cornbread, Avocados, Tossed Salad | 
