Down Sick....

I apologize for the lack of content the last few days. I am down with the flu and a fibro flare. I appreciate ya'll hanging in there with me.

Whoot! I did it!

An apology and life as I know it now...

Life is one of those things that can turn itself upside down without asking for you permission and there's nothing you can do about it.

Most of my readers know that I have fibromyalgia. This horrible illness is has taken over my life. So many things that I used to do I can't anymore. I can't hold my child, I can't stand and do dishes, I can't clean my home in one day. What took me 4 hours to do before now takes 3 days.

So life as we know it has changed drastically. I ask you all now to pray for me and my family.

I am going to try to be around more often. I have good days and bad but no matter what, writing in this blog helps me.

Back to Life

So I will say that I kind of did enjoy my 2 weeks without the pc. I got to spend a lot more time with my family. That was good and bad. Since we had July 4 thrown in there, we went and watched the fireworks.

Well, needless to say that my youngest stepson and I had fireworks going of our own. He is forever picking on his little sister and I have to admit that I am more protective of her than I am any of the stepkids. Most likely because she is my own. Anyhow, I had finally had enough and told him so (I tried to keep it polite), which proceeded to do nothing more than to tick him off. Lol, by the time the fireworks started tho, everything was okay.

I will say this. I have 222 (not really, but a lot) cookbooks in this house and I don't use a single one. All of my recipes are stored online. SO...when I went to plan the menu for this week, I couldn't cook anything..lol. I didn't have my recipes! I have never wanted to throw a temper tantrum more than I did that day. But I made it thru without the recipes! Yay for me!

I need to get life back in order...and I need to get back to organizing. We are headed to Ohio on the 22nd and I would like for most of it to be done by then. I know this won't happen so I am not even going to pretend that it will. I am just going to take it one step at a time.

So...

Today's projects are:

Clean out the pots and pans cupboard and replace the items back in neatly
Scrub the kitchen floor
Re-organize the spice cabinent again (just needs straightened up)
And...
Clean out the bathroom and linen closet.

Lol, I was doing my hair the other day and looked down at MY drawer. Damon has his, Emma has hers and I have mine. Oh boy! Does that drawer need some organizing help! Lol


Wish me luck and if I can find my camera I will post some before and after pics.

Also, I am still decluttering clothes, but am no longer donating them. I have a friend I will see in Ohio whose daughter is the perfect size for them so I will be taking them to her when we go.

Back online

Well...

The last 2 weeks have been kinda hectic around our house.

First off, my pc crashed. Yup. Dead. So, it took us 2 weeks and paying more than its worth to get one from Rent A Center today. Normally I wouldn't do rent to own, but since I need one desperately to work, we had no other choice.

Secondly...apparentally my husbands vasectomy has reversed itself. I suffered a miscarriage this past week. No, I have not been with anyone else and I am getting really sick of that question. The good thing is that my husband knows this. Please keep us in prayer, we didn't realize how badly we wanted another child until we lost one.

Because of the miscarriage, the love dare got put off...I will be restarting it tomorrow so wish me luck, we all know how much trouble I had with day 1 the first time around.

Also, I get to go see my mom! We will be heading to Ohio the week of the 22nd! Yay! I also get to see my best friend since Kindergarten for the first time in over 10 years!! YAY again!

Love Dare-Day 2

I DID IT!

YAY!

I made it thru the whole day today without saying ONE negative thing to him. I did say a couple things under my breath to myself, but it wasn't said to him and I was in a different room so he didn't hear me.

So I am moving onto Day 2. I knwo that I still said the two things under my breath, but I feel like that is something that will fix itself as time goes on.

So here is Day 2...

"In Addition to saying nothing negative to your spouse again today, (OY VEY) Do at least one unexpected gesture as an act of kindness." (Excerpt from the Love Dare)

So, here we go...

Today's Scripture is Eph 4:32 " Be ye kind to one another, tender-hearted and forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you."

Love Day-Day 1

I was so touched by the movie "Fireproof" that I went out this morning and bought the book, "The Love Dare."

For those that don't know, the Love Dare is a 40 day challenge to help you be a better husband/wife and to improve your marriage.

Here is what the book says...

"Receive this as a warning. This forty day journey cannot be taken lightly. It is a challenging and often difficult process, but an incredibly fulfilling one. To take this dare requires a resolute mind and a steadfast determination. It is nt meant to be sampled or briefly tested, and those who quit early will forfeit the greates benefits. If you will commit to a day at a time for forty days, the results could change your life and your marriage. Consider it a dare, from others who have done it before you." (excerpt from the Love Dare, Stephen and Alex Kendrick)


Day 1:

Day one seems like it will be a simple thing to do. I am smart enough to know tho, that it most likely won't be.

Today I am to say NOTHING negative to my husband. I am extending this to my children also. If a situation arises where I feel like I want to, I am to bite my tounge.

We will see. I will let you know how I do tomorrow, along with the Day 2 challenge.

The scripture for todays dare is Eph 4:2 "with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love,"

Happy B-day To Me!

Birthdays are always a time of reflection for me. I look back over my life and remember the good times and smile, I frown over the bad times and I shed tears for the times I am still not sure of.

My life has not been all roses and candy. I am 27 and on my third marriage. My first husband was horribly abusive. I barely made it out of that marriage alive. My second husband (my daughters biofather) was lazy and an alcoholic. After six years and being homeless more than once with a child under 2, I moved on. You can't help someone who doesn't want to be helped. My husband now is a wonderful man. He has helped me to heal all of those wounds that life has left on me. He has helped to take a broken heart and has pieced it back together. I truly believe that God led us to meet and fall in love.

My mom was sick my entire life. I can still remember taking a blanket that the EMT's had left at my house to show and tell in kindergarten. I thought it was so cool. At 13, she almost died. She was literally given 12 hours to live. She says she saw Jesus (all I saw was the ceiling, but I am not going to tell her she didn't see it, I know it's possible) and suddenly she was not dying anymore.

My father was a Marine. He was a perfectionist Marine. Nothing I ever did seemed good enough for him. He was also a Baptist preacher. We didn't get along very well. Yet since he went Home to be with the Lord, I feel as if a piece of me is missing. I miss him terribly even if we didn't talk much.

I have made my share of mistakes. I am a clean drug addict and a sober alcoholic. I will forever be a drug addict and an alcoholic. I am very aware of exactly how little it would take of either to cause me to fall. I once dabbled in the occult. I thought I knew everything. It amazes me now just how little I actually did know.

But I have come thru it. I wouldn't change any of it. All of it has molded me and made me the person I am today. I am stronger now than I was then. I am wiser (I hope..lol) than I was then. I am more self-confident than I was then.

So Happy B-day to me! Here's to another year!

I am woman...hear me roar....meow. :D

Sick

So I have come down sick with a 24 hour bug. It hit the baby (4 y.o.) first then Damon and now me. Fun. It should be gone by tommorrow.

As a result, I didn't get to start the Master bedroom decluttering today like I had planned. Ah well, there's always tomorrow.

I did however get rid of some stuff for the 365 day challenge.

Here is what left my home today.

2 highlighters
5 packs of unopened post-its
3 packs of pencils

May not seem like much, but its definately noticeable in my desk drawer.

Tomorrow we have a behavioral evaluation for our 4 year old. We are fairly certain that she has adhd. Wish us luck and please keep us in your prayers.

The Wonders of Accupuncture

As most of you know, I have fibromyalgia. (For more info, click here ) We have tried a lot of different treatments since my diagnosis in 2007, but really, none have worked all that well. Pain meds don't really help, meds specific to FMS haven't helped, soaks in the tub, etc...nothing was working. So out of desperation I asked my doc about trying accupuncture.

Trust me...this was a big step. I HATE needles. I will run from someone with a needle. I would really like to just shoot the person who invented them. So for me to ask about this meant that I was tired of treatments that didn't work...tired of hurting...tired of fighting.

Anyhow to make a long story short (it actually took me almost 3 months to get the first treatment), I would like to say *climbs up on my soapbox* that accupuncture is the greatest thing to have ever happened to me.

I have had 3 treatments as of this writing and I don't hurt. I don't deal with the stiffness in the mornings, I don't have the headaches as often, simply put...I feel 100% better.

The treatments are bad at all. The needles are one piece, where the bottom of the needle is straight and then it sorta weaves into a spring. They don't hurt going in, most of them I don't even feel and the ones that I do feel, hurt less than if someone had pinched me. I love the practitioner that I see...he's got a great sense of humor and is gentle with me since he realizes that even the slightest jarring of the wrong place at the wrong time can put me down for days, he's just a great guy.

And then there's the added benefits. I am (usually) much more calm after the treatments. I mean who wouldn't be after lying in a dark room with a heat lamp shining gentle heat on you and beautiful chinese music playing softly in the background for 20 minutes? Lol. Its great.

So...if you are having a hard time with stress, pain or whatever, I would recommend getting yourself some needle treatment. :D

Just do yourself a favor...make sure that the person you are hiring to do the job is actually certified. I'm told that a person could really mess you up if they didn't know what they were doing.

Wow!

It's been a while since I have posted. Things had gotten really hectic around here for a while. We had b-days and graduations and more..lol.

So...here I am again.

Our family is doing really well. Both of my daughters (17 step and 4 bio) have graduated their respective grades. The 17 year old is planning on going to college near here and majoring in early childhood education. My 4 year old will be heading to kindergarten a whole year early. IF we can get her adhd under control.

We just recently found out that she does have adhd. We are just learning how to manage it, so if anyone has any tips, we sure would appreciate them. We are going to try and control it without medication, but if thats what it takes, thats what it takes.

Have finally gotten back to menu planning. I realized that if I had just bought what I actually needed for meals this week that I would have only spent like 65.00 at the store. So, next week we will try to only buy what we need.

I am not posting my menu for this week as my planning week is almost over, but I will get back to posting it again on Thursday.

Hope you all are doing well!

About Me

Who is the woman behind A Helpmeet for Him?

I am a 27 year old woman. I met my husband online and married him 9 months later. He truly is the love of my life.

I am the mother of one very active four year old (hereby known as the baby in my posts) and stepmom to 3 teens ages 14,16 and 18.

We reside in Northern Iowa in a 4 bedroom house with a guinea pig named Milkdud and a cat (aka as the Queen) named Bella.

I work from home doing website management. Basically I run websites for people who do not have the time to do it themselves. My husband is a medically retired Navy vet who served in the Gulf War.

I have Fibromyalgia, Bipolar Disorder and a few other illnesses.

I love the Lord, but my walk with him is labored. We seem to have an on again, off again type of relationship. I know this is more my fault than his. I work on and struggle with this every day.

I love to sing. Music has always been a type of therapy for me and it continues to be. There is nothing more soothing to my soul than the old time hymns that I grew up with.

I also crochet, although not very well. I just recently taught myself but I feel I am doing well with it.

Lastly, I sincerly hope that you will enjoy your time here with me. This blog is about my journey to becoming the wife that not only I want to be, but also the wife that God intended me to be.

Updates and weekly shopping trip

So its been a while.

Things have been really hectic around here this week. I've had to make 3 trips to Des Moines, which is about 2 hours (give or take) from my house, and I've had to put 2 of our animals to sleep this week, one of which was a big rabies scare. Everything has turned out okay, other than I put a cat to sleep that didn't really need it. But the vet said that the symptoms he was showing were too close to rabies to tell, so there was really nothing else to do.

On to the weekly shopping trip. I am really proud of myself this week. Whereas I usually am able to fill my cart to half full, this week it was overflowing. Yay! Lol

Here's some of the great deals we got.

Eggo Waffles--1.18 ea
Roll sausage-.99 ea
sausage links-.99 ea
orange juice-1.99 ea (like .70 savings on ea)
Eggs for .88 dzn
Jumbo hot dogs for .88 ea (my daughter has an addiction to them)
bologna for .88 (another addiction of hers)
Kraft mac and cheese for .49 ea
sour cream for 1.39

AND My DEAL OF DEALS!!

6 2-liters of Diet Dr. Pepper for 1.32!! TOTAL!! TAX AND DEPOSIT AND ALL!! WHOO HOO!!!

Anyhow, I hope you all are having a better week than me

What goes up...

Must come down...

I have fibromyalgia. As a result, I have a few other health problems that have presented themselves over the years. IBS, TMJ, objective vertigo, idiopathic hypersomnia (in the process of finishing this diagnosis) (diagnosis=dx from here on out) and a few more.

Anyhow, of the minor illnesses, I would say that the vertigo is the worst of the two. Stairs appear to move on me when I am climbing down them. I have fallen before but generally just tend to take it slow and I am fine. Until today. I was going downstairs to help my little one finish getting ready for school and took a rather bad fall.

Long story short, I totally destroyed the right side of my body. I mean that I literally bruised that side from my ankle to my shoulder. My right hip and wrist took the worst of it tho. I didn't go to the e.r. but am prolly going to when Damon gets home from work due to the fact that I still can barely put weight on that wrist.

Please keep me in your prayer's ya'll. I am going to call my doc later today as this has become a real problem now.

Yay

If you've been paying attention, you know that I have been having trouble getting my grocery bill down under 150.00 each week. I started menu planning about 3 weeks ago to try and help with it, but so far hadn't had any luck.

Until this week!

I went to the store this week and spent....

80.00!!!

Yay! *does a really lame happy dance around her living room*

Whoo Hoo!

Now...I do have to go back to the store tomorrow to grab a couple of things that they were out of (restock is tomorrow), but those items won't cost me much over another 10.00 so I am still waayyy under my allowed budget for the week.

One thing that I *think* (too early to really tell) helped is that I decided to make our snacks here at home instead of buying pre-made convience foods. Ima make some people Puppy Chow tomorrow, regular and pb rice krispie treats, ants on a log, oatmeal rasin cookies, and....this is where I get stuck.

HELP!!!

I have my stepsons this coming weekend so the snacks need to be flowing a plenty...and I can't think of anymore to make. I could make the typical cookies, cakes and candies (I cook okay, but baking is really my forte), but I was wanting to go for more of a healthier stance.

I don't mind if I have to use more of the grocery budget this week to stock up on what I may need to make them, so money isn't a problem.

Please leave any snack suggestions you may have in a comment. I would really appreciate any help you all may have.




Brag of the week: My youngest stepson (the bigger of the 2 boys in the pic below) is wrestling for the first time this year. He currently has a record of 5 wins (4 of those by pinfall) and 3 losses. For a first year wrestler, I am told this is really good. Just had to brag a bit, we are all really proud of him.

The Cutest Blog on the Block

So I came across this site today and wanted to give them their due credit. They have got some really nice blog layouts and some awesome graphics for them too. Also tutorials on how to create your own layout and more. Check them out today and you won't regret it. You can click the link at the top of this page or click..

HERE

Ah-CHOO!

Anyone else sick? I seem to be coming down with the flu...and at such a fantastic time too. Please send up a quick prayer for me if you would. I am sure that you all know that when mom is down, the whole house can fall apart real quick.

I have managed to plan out not only this week's menu, but the month's menu. This is awesome for me, because I now know what I will be shopping for in 3 weeks so if I happen to see a great sale, I can go ahead and grab it (like with the sirloin roast last week).

Here we go.

Feb 3--beef stew and biscuits
Feb 4--chicken fried rice-
Feb 5--breakfast at supper (biscuits and gravy)
Feb 6--bean and bacon soup
Feb 7--tuna casserole
Feb 8--Dh's b-day! Lasagna (His fav meal)
Feb 9--fish and chips
Feb 10-taco bake
Feb 11-chili and cornbread
Feb 12-pork chops
Feb 13- fried chicken (anyone got a good recipe for fc? I am bored with mine.)
Feb 14- loaded cheeseburgers
Feb 15- meatloaf
Feb 16- spaghetti
Feb 17- chinese night (prolly general tso's or something)
Feb 18- burritos
Feb 19- ham and augratin potatoes
Feb 20- take out night (prolly pizza)
Feb 21- fish and chips
Feb 22- baked chicken (again...recipe? I don't think I even have one cause I usually don't fix it this way)
Feb 23- lasagna
Feb 24- taco bake
Feb 25- chili and cornbread
Feb 26- pot roast
Feb. 27- meatloaf'
Feb- 28- breakfast at supper (biscuits and gravy)

I will do the sides as I go..lol. And yes, I know I have no nights for leftovers...thats because we eat them for lunch...if we happen to have any left over for dinner too, then the menu plan is just pushed back a day.

Lastly, I would like to ask you all to keep my daughter in your thoughts and prayers. To make a really long story short, she and I come from a really bad life before I met my husband. Homeless more times than I can count, going hungry, living with people who hated us, etc. I will tell the story one day (its a great testiment of God's great love and power), but today isn't that day. She is having a really hard time adjusting to life as it is now...with a loving family, a stable roof over her head, food in her belly, clothes on her back, etc. She hasn't been saying much to me, but instead has been opening up to her teacher.

That is fine with me...at least someone is able to get into that little head. (This is my 4 year old we are talking about here, not my 17 yo stepdaughter). She just needs a bit of prayer and I would really appreciate it if you all would join me in doing so.

Thanks all and have a great day!

31 days of Prayer for My husband

So I am browsing blogs tonight and I come across a really great one.

Diary of a Stay At Home Mom

Anyhow, she has started doing the 31 days of prayer for her husband and has invited all to join her.

Well, with yesterday being my husband's and mine's first wedding anniversary, I thought what better way to start out a new year in our marriage. So I am going to participate.

I invite you to also.

Just click on the link above to go to her blog where she will list the prayers, etc everyday. She also has a Mr. Linky so we can all know who is participating, but you don't have to fill it out if you don't want to. :)

Happy Anniversary My Love

Damon...

One year ago today, we stood beside one another and said those vows that we cling so tightly to each day. On that day, I knew that I was making the best choice that I could have and that for some reason, God had chosen me to have one of the best around. It was an extremely humbling thought to know that after it all, all of the things I had allowed to happen to me, that you still wanted me.

In the past year, I have fallen in love with you all over again so many times that I have lost count. The way you treat me, the things you do for me, the love you give me...at times it is almost more than I can handle. You still manage to take my breath away sometimes. Even the butterflies have remained.

Yes, we have had our problems...Lord knows we have had our problems. I am sure too that we will continue to have them...lol, our medical conditions almost guarantee that. But we've made it thru every single one of them...some without battle scars...some with them. We've overcome those obsticals tho. And I know we will continue to overcome them.

Seeing you in the hospital this past week really hit me hard. Not that you were all that bad off, but coming home to an empty house, sleeping alone in our bed, not being able to talk to you whenever, or beat you at that stupid game...it really hit me hard. Its insane how dependent you can become on someone in such a short time. If nothing else, it reminded me how much I love you...which is easily forgotten sometimes.

I love you Damon. I have since I first heard your voice over that phone. Really since that first chat on im. There was something about you that drew me to you...I think I knew even then that something big was about to happen. When you picked me up in Ohio and we hugged that first time, it was like coming home. I had found what I had searched for, for so long.

Never forget that you are my one and only. There have been others in both of our lives, but for me there has never been another who has my love like you do. There is, was, and ever will be only you. You are not perfect but neither am I, but together...what we have is probably as close to perfection as we could get on this earth.

Happy Anniversary My love...here's to you, me and a lifetime full of love and happiness.

Stacy

Menu Planning Monday for week of 2/1/09-2/7/09

This week we stayed pretty close to the menu plan with the exception of the 2 days that my DH was in the hospital. Him being admitted kinda threw me off kilter so I ordered out...lol. Bad of me I know, but I am sure you all understand.

Here is next weeks plan...pretty cheap week actually. I only planned dinners this week, we will figure lunches out as they come.

Sunday: SuperBowl Buffet--pizzas (maybe and frozen ones), nachos, little smokies, etc.
Monday: Ham and potatoes (turkey ham with augratin potatoes, cooked in crock)
Tuesday: beef stew and biscuits
Wednesday: Chinese night--chicken fried rice
Thursday: frozen pizza night
Friday: bean and bacon soup
Saturday: tuna casserole
Sunday: Lasagna (DH's B-day and Favorite meal)

Now keep in mind that I shop on Friday's so some of this will actually be on next week's groceries, but I wanted to start planning on a regular weekly schedule. Friday to Friday is just too off kilter for me. Lol, I need regular structure in my life and any little weird thing will throw me off of that.

Have a great week!