Emalee's 2nd Gotcha Day!!!

Today is Emalee's 2nd Gotcha Day! I can't believe that it's been 2 whole years since I was handed a beautiful bundle of Korean baby girl joy to take home! We waited 2 1/2 years to get to that day...it seemed like an eternity!
I was thinking this morning of how our wait seemed like forever. There were so many friends that stood by us encouraging us the whole entire process. There were also many people in our life that just didn't understand why we were adopting a child at all...especially when we had two kids already. They also didn't understand why in the world we'd go to another country to adopt.
There was one particular day when I was feeling somewhat discouraged after some negative remarks that I had heard concerning our adoption. I knew in my heart that the Lord called us to adopt. I knew in my heart where our daughter was. I knew in my heart that this was real, but so many voices kept saying things to the contrary.
It's amazing how in times like these the Enemy comes in trying to "kill, steal, and destroy" God's perfect plan.
As I was driving home that day, I turned the radio on 88.3 The Wind FM. All of the sudden I heard the most beautiful words....

"...and the voice of Truth tells me a different story, and the voice of Truth says do not be afraid, and the voice of Truth says this is for My glory...out of all the voices calling out to me, I will choose to listen and believe the Voice of Truth." ~Mercy Me "The Voice of Truth"

Wow! Just what I needed and just at the right time the Lord spoke reminding me that His voice, His Word, is the Truth. It's the only Voice I'm to listen to and obey. What a comfort to have Him speak Truth over me, confirming in my spirit what He had previously instructed me to do. He's such a good God!

I pray that as Emalee grows up into a young lady that she can look back and see a beautiful tapestry that the Lord has made of her life and I'm so grateful that I get the priviledge of being a part of it!

Some of my March '09 freebies

Just thought I'd post a pic of my most recent freebies. All these were purchased at Walgreens with only two trips. Everthing you see here was free except the napkins which were .25 each (I actually got 3 napkins, but I've already opened a package that's not pictured.) A grand total of .75 cents plus tax! At full price all this would have costs around $100.00.
Here's what's pictured:

8 Glade airfresheners auto-sprayed mentioned in my last post.
1 Listerine
1 Garnier Fructise Shampoo/conditioner
2 Excedrin
1 Suave Lotion
2 Pledge dusting spray
4 Colgate Total Advanced Whitening
1 Crest Pro-Health
3 Vanity Fair Napkins 100 ct.
2 Reach Toothbrushes
2 Soleil Razors
1 box Glucerna Cereal

New Blog Background

I decided to change my blog background today. I like it a lot because I like pink!
Emalee is running a 101 fever today. She really doesn't seem too sick, so I'm not sure what's wrong with her. She is a little bit sluggish, but that's it. I started babysitting a newborn last week. She'll be 7 weeks old tomorrow and still has that newborn smell. She sleeps all the time. She's only been awake 30 minutes today so far. Yesterday she was awake a total of 1 hour and 20 minutes. I forgot how much newborns sleep! It's a nice transition for me though.
Really, there's not much new at the Nothnagel house. We're debating on putting in a garden this year, the boys are getting their lawnmowing equipment ready for mowing season...just normal spring-like things that we're doing or thinking about.
Today is St. Patrick's Day so me and the babies are wearing green. I doubt any of the boys have green on. The boys' school uniforms don't have any green in them!
I went ahead and cooked our corned beef and cabbage this past Sunday. I ate leftovers for lunch today. Emalee actually wanted to try the cabbage and loved it. Cabbage is a HUGE part of the Korean diet, so that's cool that she likes it so much. I'll have to make it more often for her to enjoy.

Interested in couponing? I came across a great tutorial that will help you get started. Just click on this link and you're set to go! http://bargainbriana.com/tag/15-days-of-couponing/

I've also put a link list in the left column of my favorite coupons sites to visit.

Bargains of the week!

This has been a great week for bargain shopping. So far this year I've cut my grocery budget in half compared to last years budget. (That includes food along with anything I would have normally bought at Walmart like toiletries, makeup, etc.)

I've done a lot of shopping the last two weeks. I took 3 weeks off of shopping in February and thought I'd try to do that again this month. I'm hoping to take another 3 weeks off after this week is over. I've got so much food and paper goods stockpiled that I think this can be reasonably done again. The only thing I need to buy is meat. Of course, I'll have to buy perishables like milk, bread, dairy and some produce, but don't plan to spend more than $20 for all of those. I'm going to write out another menu later today in order to help myself stay on track. I really hope I can stick to this plan...I'll let you know how it goes!

I thought I'd share the best bargains that I scored this week:

1. 15 cans of Pringles for .65 cents each. (on clearance plus I had coupons)
2. 6 tubs of margarine: Land O Lakes and Country Crock for .19 cents each.
3. 4 FREE Glade Sense and Spray starter kits.
4. 4 FREE Glade Lasting Impressions Scented Oil PlugIns w/Fans.
5. 1 FREE 18 oz. bottle of Suave lotion.
6. 2 boxes of Better Crocker Potatoes .44 cents each.
7. 1 FREE tube of Crest Pro Health toothpaste.
8. 1 FREE tube of Colgate Total toothpaste.
9. 1 FREE bottle of Garnier Frutis shampoo/conditioner.
10. 1 box of Kotex for $1.
11. 6 packages of Huggies diapers: on sale for $10.00 per pkg. I had $5 coupons which made them $5 per pkg. Then, I got $20 register rewards (RR) to spend at the store on my next visit. So, I actually paid $10 for 6 packages of Huggies diapers and was able to bless a friend with a couple packs of diapers! I now have a stockpile of 12 packages of diapers between the Huggies and the Kroger's Comforts from Dillon's.
12. 3 Huggies wipes 184 count refill packs priced at $6. 79 each. I had $5 coupons for all of them making them $1.79 each!