New Blog

Hello faithful followers. I have started a new blog. It's more focused, will have more goodies and is more simple. As I figure out this journey of marriage, being a wife, a mom, following Christ, simplifying my life, building a business, growing and learning about myself and this world, I will share with you the process, the things I learn and and wisdom bestowed upon me over at my new blog www.MomsSimplePath.blogspot.com. Please follow me there. To see the topics I will focus on read through my profile. I will continue to share more personal family info at our family blog www.thehickmanadventure.blogspot.com.
See ya on the other side!!!!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Cloth Diapers

If you follow my family blog you will have already seen this post there. But HERE is the link to my post on Cloth Diapering.....Enjoy!!!!

Here, There, EVERYWHERE

I can't decide what to post where. Sometimes I post couponing stuff here, sometimes on my family blog. Perhaps I should just do one blog?! Or maybe I will do all my stuff here and just put family pictures and stories on the family blog.

So if you want to see my great couponing finds this past week go here. But I'll try to get them on this blog from now on.

Soon I will be posting about my experience with cloth diapers, simplifying my life and more.....
Any topics you would like to hear about?

Sleep anyone?

I went to bed at 10pm. Got up at 8:30am. (of course there were a few night feedings and diaper changing) But I had to STILL drag myself out of bed. I will admit - I do LOVE sleep but this is getting a little ridiculous. I want to get up early, do yoga and my personal quite time with the Lord before my boys wake up and the day is unending chaos. I can't seem to get myself to get OUT of bed in the morning. Am I depressed? Not getting enough sleep? Addicted to sleep? This all is resulting in huge frustration with myself. I know what I want but am struggling getting there.

I know people can relate. I know people have succeed in this area. My own husband is the most disciplined person I know! Why is it sooo hard for me?

What is your solution to this problem?

My Awesome Coupon Finds for the week

In this weeks P&G there was an awesome coupon for $2 off Pampers wipes. And at Walmart they are only $1.97. So you know what that means......FREE wipes!! WoooHooo! All I had to pay was tax which was $1.68.

This trip was from Safeway. I was planning on getting A LOT more free stuff to go with this order but it didn't work out. However, I couldn't walk away too upset when I got all of this for $4.56

Walgreen's had a glitch in their system. And it was ringing up the body was as buy one get one free. So I took advantage of it (the cashier helped me as it was my first attempt at couponing at Walgreen's ). I received all of the body wash for free plus $12 in rewards (in-store money). I also scored 11 toothbrushes for free. They were one sale for $.99 and I had $1 off coupons. The only thing I had to pay for was the tax of course which amounted to $1.41 - Sweet!

So overall I MADE MONEY this week :)

Walmart = $1.68

Safeway= $4.56

Walgreen's = $1.41

Total = $7.65 - $12 that I made at Walgreen's means

I made $4.35 this week shopping. Awesome!

Deodorant

Today I came across a post about making your own deodorant. Some may think this is weird or odd but I think its awesome. I have always wanted to try to do something like that. So I will try. The ingredients are pretty simple and the reviews say it works awesome. I will let you know how that goes.

One of my new friends taught me how to coupon too. She did it in Utah before she moved here and is awesome at it! So I am giving that a go as well. I tried it once before and read all about it but it was pretty confusing. However, when she showed me her system and the way it works- its pretty simple! I have been collecting coupons but haven't gotten enough courage to DO anything yet. But this week I will, hopefully. She gotten some awesome deals. I can't wait till I can come home with a butt load of stuff for only $10. Its gonna be awesome. Again I will keep you posted on that as well.

Another Monday

Today was a great day! Despite the fact my baby was fussy and blah all day, we got a lot done! Office stuff in the morning, lunch with Curtis then we went on a walk, drove to Park Meadows Mall for an interview, stopped at a gas station and got gas (for 2.86 per gallon- geeppers!) and a carwash, went to Sunflower Market and got lots of yummy yummy fruits and veggies, stopped at King Soopers and got the essentials (milk and bread), came home and fixed hamburgers at 4pm (we were starving!), ate the hamburgers. I worked on CARES stuff and tried to keep Samuel happy while Curtis cleaned the bathroom (willingly- yeah I know I got an amazing husband) then I spent two hours rocking Samuel to sleep, feeding Samuel, rocking him to sleep, bouncing Samuel, feeding Samuel, laying Samuel down, picking Samuel up, rocking, feeding, bouncing, rocking, finally he passed out at 8 (love being a mom :o) ), did pilates, stretched, cleaned out my purse, ate some icecream and now I'm blogging! I wish I could blog everyday. I love it. But I love all the things I did today.

I love the feeling of having a fridge stocked full of fresh fruit and veggies. Sunflower Market has GREAT prices on fresh fruit and veggies, everything else is rather expensive so I just browse the produce section and I'm out. I can't wait to cook up some yummy meals with the stuff I bought. Hopefully I will have time to share them on here!

I think my baby is getting tooth in, he is fussy and irritable all the time, its hard for him to take good naps during the day and he wakes up screaming if he does fall asleep. I'm not sure what exactly is causing this since I can't seem to locate an incoming tooth but I cant think of what else it is. Whatever it is I hope it passes, but in the mean time I just take each minute at a time and understand I can't do everything and being a mom and wife is most important.

Cheers!

Monday Modifying

I have been thinking about doing this for a while and a blog I was reading really helped me to make sure it happens. My day will be Mondays- you can choose which ever day works best for you and your family but ours will be Mondays.

Every Monday we will go through our house and modify things- simplify- get rid of stuff we don't need, don't really use or could see someone else using more than us!

When we were in China we really loved the idea of living simply (hence the blog) and really wanted to try to continue living that kind of life when we moved back to America. Its been very difficult- but we have stayed aways from the stores well. Now its all about getting rid of the 'stuff' in the house that has little to no meaning and is just taking up space, and in the end making it much more difficult to clean than necessary.

I am very excited about this project. And it will be a good thing for our family to get in the habit of. Even if its just a few things each Monday- if we don't love it or use it regularly, what's it doing in our house!?

Today- I got rid of some 'decorative' pieces that were given to us ( I don't even know when) and they are pretty but I don't love them and don't really know what to do with them. So they have sat awkwardly in our house until today. I'm sure someone will LOVE them and they will be used in another home. I also got rid of some clothes. If they fit awkwardly or they are the shirts that Í might were someday" they have been put in the box to be given away.

Now I will start on my stations. More to come on this idea later =)

Gas

I filled up on gas on Monday, and wouldn't you know it the next day it went down 4 cents! Just my luck. Geezzzz...

In other news - Peanut is growing FAST and is now exploring under my rib cage. That's fun. He is moving A LOT and I think he is practicing his back flips.

April

Wow what a crazy month this has been and will continue to be, no doubt. I can't believe the last time I posted was LAST Monday! I have many projects that I would like to stay on top of but because of going back and forth from China to America and back while balancing a few different agendas I just don't think I can make the commitment to stay on top of this blog thing. I will be back in May but for now I can't promise much. I will update and add stuff as I have time, however I can't promise any consistency like I was trying before BUT I do hope we can continue our Deck of You we have continued. So I will list the next month of prompts on here so you can do them at your leisure and hopefully share them with us. I will post mine when I can but I don't want people waiting around for me to post during this busy time.



Thanks SO much for your patience and I can't wait to get settled and get more consistent but that maybe be very rare this year. Who knows! Don't you just love living each day as it comes!



Since I have more or less been putting the new prompts out on Friday's I will list those Friday dates for reference as well as the week we are on



Week 7 -Last week's Prompt - April 3 -- Shoes, Shoes, Shoes! There is always a story with Shoes

Week 8- This week- April 10 - Who (or What) do you miss?

Week 9- April 17- Inspiration Found! (something that inspired you or you inspired or whatever!)

Week 10- April 24- Note to Self (write a note to yourself, big or small)

Week 11- May 1 - Your Initial ( Do something fun with your initial!)

Week 12- May 8- I believe...(something you believe in)

Week 13 - May 15 - What's on your mind...



I really hope to be back by May 15 but you never know, just trying to cover my bases! Hope you enjoy it and keep us updated on your cards so we can check them out! If you want the previous weeks prompts they are located under the "deck of you" categories on the right hand side. Feel free to jump in if you are just joining!!!



Stay Simple!!

Manic Monday on Monday!!

Yes, I am finally getting a handle on my days. I am actually going to do the Manic Monday on Monday!!

Do you enjoy brain teasers or do you find them frustrating?
Both! I love brain teasers books. I have bought a few and do them when I feel the need to learn or stretch my brain. Also while traveling, planes, trains, cars - Good time fillers because they are short (usually) and you feel like you accomplished something after you finish! Sometimes I get frustrated at certain ones, or skip them all together. The ones I feel most frustrated with are simple ones that I know I learned in high school but can't for the life of me remember how to do it! (math problems) For the most part I can remember but every now and then it really gets me!

Do you have any unusual collections?
No, I don't think so. Well actually maybe. I was telling Curtis and Josh I save all of my papers and homework from college but also from projects and everything I do. I save it all on my computer. You never know when you might need it again, right?
But I can't think of other unusual collections. I love bags but that's not to unusual and I don't have a lot.

What do people notice about you within the first hour of meeting you (other than appearance)?
My friends later tell me they are usually intimidated by me. Which I feel extremely bad about! I am usually quite and not that talkative because I feel nervous and uncomfortable around new people. I guess this can come across as stuck-up and too good for people but that is NOT what I am thinking or feeling. I am actually extremely nervous ha ha! So if you meet me for the first time, know that I love to make friends, I'm just not that good at it!
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On another note: check out the Whole food market blog. Have you ever wondered about those "Good Fats" people are always taking about? I have and this awesome post gave me a whole new perspective! Especially this part "If you crave a lot of sugar and feel hungry within just a couple of hours after eating..." Check it out!!

Deck of You!!!!

Its about that time of the week again. This time I am getting caught up. Both week 5 (last week) and Week 6 (this week) I am going to post right now!!! It feels so good to be caught up. Thank you participants for being patient as its kind of scattered with my traveling.



So week 5 was to use an ephemera- I used my boarding pass- how convenient. I am using a list from this website and its really fun to see how it lines up with my life. Kinda crazy actually.

This next week is......

Week 6 Prompt: Love, Love, Love

Pretty self explanatory!!! Run with it!!

Can't wait to see 'em!!!

Here is mine:

I used oil pastel for the background, purple paper and sharpie! Love God. Love Others. Love Yourself. That's what I think of when I think of love. Plus the prompt is love, love, love so it worked out quite well that I had three things that I thought of when I thought of love. And what I believe in when I think of love.

Simply Love this week!!!

Windy Poop

That's how I feel about wind- its poop. I hate it. Its been so windy these past couple days in CO. My dad said its been very windy this winter here. I hope it goes away. One of the most wonderful things about Colorado is its lack of wind.

Last week I started to do Manic Monday's. But I seem to be getting them done on Tuesdays- humm. I should work on that. But here we go!

Do you screen your phone calls?

No. I may make a few groans or take some deep breaths before I answer but try to always answer when I am available for a conversation. I don't really like talking on the phone. I would rather talk in person so phone conversations are hard for me but I have realized since being away from family and friends how necessary phone calls are. Also, how they can make me or a friend/family member feel so much better!

When was the last time you lost your temper?

Probably the night before I left for America. Curtis and I were having a conversation and I think my emotions got to involved and I got a little upset but nothing too bad. I don't think- ha ha

When you're lost, do you ask for directions?

Not typically. If you ask my friends and family, they can testify to the fact that I usually have a great sense of direction and very good memory when it comes to locations and whatnot. I usually know if I have a good idea of where I am or heading in the right direction and when I'm completely guessing. My husband is patient enough to wait and see if I am right when we have the time, however if we are in a hurry or limited time I'll have no problem asking for directions. I just like to try to figure it out if I can!

Hope your Monday/Tuesday wasn't so poopy windy as mine!

Simply Live and Love today!!

America!

Well I made it. Thursday night- after a long journey and pushing over 200 lbs. of luggage to terminal 7 in LAX (15 minutes walk) after already having traveled over 15 hours with no sleep, I made it to Denver and into a nice comfy bed at my dad's house. Its been great being back with friends and family but I miss my husband terribly, terribly, terribly!

Since being home things have been going non-stop. I finally got around to the blog, but am very behind with the Deck of You. If you are participating- thank you thank you thank you for your patience and here is the week 5 prompt!

Week 5 - Use an ephemera from your week

I hope to have mine up in a couple days along with Week 6 prompt!

See you tomorrow!!

Deck of You Card....A little late.

So here it is! Just in time before I share the next prompt.

So the prompt was a symbol that I love. Since living in China I have grown to love the symbol of the dragon and cherry blossom

Honestly, I had to research the meanings of both of them to gain a fully understanding but I just love them both because in my mind they remind me of the life these past two years in China.

Monday Monday Monday/Tuesday

I came across this Manic Monday site and thought it would be fun to give it a try every Monday, help me get in the grove of blogging at the beginning of the week and keep things updated. So here we go.....



you a saver or spender?

Definitely a spender, I would like to believe I was a saver and try to be a saver but I just don't do it very well- when I am in the US. However, living in China makes it REALLY easy to save. I just don't feel the need or urge to go out and shop and buy things from Target (cause there isn't one) and clothes that I really don't need (especially because we have limited room in our closet).



When I first got to China I had urges to go shopping and buy stuff but that was almost two years ago and the urges have stopped. I hope when we return this summer I can keep the mindset of not shopping just to shop and save more. I hope I will be a saver...



Do you prefer to walk around barefoot in your home? Socks? Shoes?

Without a doubt barefoot. I don't like wearing socks and shoes. Barefoot is what I prefer but doesn't happen all the time. My feet ALWAYS get cold, so I have to put on socks. Again, living in China calls for different circumstances. We always wear our Mammoth Crocs inside. Mostly because the tile floor is SO cold and get dirty really easy. But when we return- barefoot here I come!!!



Do you talk to yourself?

Haha- yes, but not fully conversations like some people I know....I yell at myself when I do something stupid or that doesn't make sense. Or when I feel overwhelmed. These are all very rare occasions in which I talk to myself but I do do it sometimes. Most of the time I just think, or pretend like I am talking to Curtis.



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DECK OF YOU- WEEK # 4



No, I didn't forget. I have just gotten really short on time lately. I went to upload the picture and my computer refuses to do so. I promise I will get it up later today or tomorrow. Week 5 is coming soon!!!

mmmmmmm mangos

My wonderful husband went to the veggie market last night to grab me a few things for dinner and brought back some wonderful surprises! Mangos and delicious looking Strawberries!!! I hadn't really eaten many mango (real mangos) before coming to China and last spring I feel in love with them! I cant wait to make some mango smoothies and enjoy them! Sadly, it looks like I am going to be missing a good part of mango season when I head back to the Continental US in a few days....so sad.

On another note. I watched the movie Twilight with some friends last night. I was greatly disappointed as it did not do the book justice at all. However, I continued to read the book last night and this morning and still love it, even though the movie was so vague.

My suggestion: don't watch the movie- read the books!

Deck of You- Week 4...

Wouldn't you know it, just when I feel like I have ALL the time in the world my days get way too short. I hope to do more updates soon but it seems other plans are being made- just gotta go with the flow sometimes...especially when there is no schedule you can set.

Deck of You prompt for week 4- A symbol that you love
You know you have it, don't be ashamed of it! Why does it speak to you! When did you first encounter it? Tell us! Show us!

I will post my card soon- as soon as I do it- ha.

Yay for busy fun days that leave you not being able to keep your eyes open when you need to get things done.

Warm Weather = Happiness

I feel like my mood changes with the weather. As much as I try to be happy on a daily basis there is nothing like warm weather to lift my spirits. Friday morning started with a walk to the store with one of my good friends Jada and then a yummy tuna melt for me and tuna sandwich for her. We then proceed to chat as she went through my clothes. I love giving my clothes away, I am not sure why but it makes me happy. While going through the clothes this conversation happened many times:

Jada "you don't want/like this!!!??!"

Me "yes but I have so much back in America"

Jada "oh." As she picks up another piece of clothing and exclaims "you don't want/like this!??!"

She soon realized we were having the same conversation every two seconds and we both laughed. Ah, I'm going to miss that girl a whole lot.

I am currently involved in the Self Challenge by Self Magazine. Trying to get into better shape- you know its an on going process. This past week I have been hanging out on the stationary bike at the gym. I have been riding for about one hour. I bring along my Twilight Book (I'm on the third one in the series now) and the time just flies by! It amazes me!

We then came back from the gym and whipped up some yummy smoothies and fixed homemade pizza for dinner! I am getting a little braver in trying new things in my cooking and baking now. This time I added some ground flax seed and wheat germ to the pizza dough. It was still delicious AND healthy. Curtis and I love cooking together. We do it whenever we can. It gives us time to do something together, chat and just relax. Plus we both love food. I used a different kind of yeast then normal and for some reason it didn't rise. I'll have to figure that out. Spicy BBQ Chicken Pizza
Fresh Veggie Pizza

We enjoyed our veggie and spicy BBQ chicken pizzas while watching the movie Fireproof. It was an interesting movie. The acting was not very good but it had some good messages in it. I'm sure it got some differing reactions by the public as well.

Saturday I enjoyed a sunny day in Beijing with Rena. We ate a delicious meal at Outback Steakhouse, tracked down a tanning salon and stocked up at Jenny Lous (the western grocery store). On the way home we met some students who were carrying along a little turtle in a plastic bag. They graciously let him out to run on the silver platter for a good portion of the trip. We tried to have a conversation but my Chinese is horrible and their English was "poor" (as they say). We discovered they went to the same school we teach at and they live at the airport. However I'm sure the second part was some sort of a mistake - but ya never know!

The two students. The one on the right is trying to think of the English he knows...

Deck of You- Week 3!

Well we are onto our third week! I hope you are checking out the awesome cards others are doing and feel free to jump in at any time. There is no need to start at the beginning!

This weeks prompt is - I AM...
Make an "I am" statement. Use it in any sort of a way, long sentence short sentence whatever...I am one of a kind. I am living bright (trying to at least). This past month has been a month of revelations. I have had more ideas and felt more alive then I have in a while and I love it! I feel like I am in my skin again...I want to be me, and live that to the fullest without the worry of what others think. I will keep trying....

I tried to put the "one of a kind" over the word average but it didn't turn out as obvious as I had hoped. Can't wait to see yours!!