Brenda Arney:  

December 4, 2009 Merry Christmas! Come visit us on Facebook! : ) We continue to be incredibly blessed! Max found a job, finally! He doesn't exactly like it, but it's paying the bills and we are extremely grateful. Jake is growing by leaps and bounds and turned three in July. He is QUITE the handful. : ) Bethanie got her drivers license in August, and about 6 weeks late totaled our PT Cruiser. We've replaced the Cruiser and Bethanie is driving Max's 1998 Dodge pickup. So far, so good. : ) Hope everyone has a lovely holiday and year end. : ) June 30, 2009, Happy summer! It seems the seasons come and go with such lightening speed we barely get a chance to savor the current one when the next one is already rolling in. : ) Max, unbelievably, is still looking for a job. We continue to be blessed in amazing ways and we thank the Lord for His abundance toward us. Max's mother will be making a move to Denver following two recent back surgeries. She'll be in a retirement community, which also offers additional care if she requires it. A great deal of Max's time has been spent on doctor appointments, traveling and planning to assist his mother and his siblings to get everything accomplished. He hopes as soon as she is definitively moved (this weekend) he can really hit the job trail hot and heavy. I was incredibly busy until about the end of May. Things have backed off slightly, but I will still close as many loans in June as I did in January - May. We were able to put some money away and are very thankful. We are trying to enjoy the summer as much as possible. Max and I have taken in a couple of movies either on the weekend or late in the afternoon on a Wednesday. We try to go when the prices are cheaper, or when we can get reduced costs on concessions. : ) We are penny pinchers for sure. : ) When Max was initially laid off, I really began to get into coupon shopping. Just this past weekend I bought 20 boxes of Pop-Tarts (8 count boxes), 10 cans of dog food (4 oz size or so) and 1 Mountain Dew (not mine...I had another shopper with me) and my grand total was 1.77. No kidding! I have the receipt! I get TONS of food for free or at very reduced costs. We bought Kraft mayonnaise and Miracle Whip at Albertsons this weekend (32 oz size) for $1 apiece. Again...not kidding! I have the receipts! I must admit, double coupons help tremendously. Very near where we live the King Soopers AND Safeway double coupons up to $1 and that can really stretch a dollar. Typically I get cereal for about .50/box (or less). Other bargains include barbeque sauce for free, salad dressing for .17/bottle, toilet paper for free, different things like that. It's a BLAST to see how much we can get for as little as possible. This weekend we spent about $70 on groceries and the back of our car had quite a bit back there. I also have 10 newspapers per week delivered (which is cheaper than buying them at the store) and so I clip ALOT of coupons. : ) E-mail me if you want to know more. I'm so happy to help! Hope everyone has some wonderful relaxation time with friends and family this summer! January 31, 2009 Hello again to everyone! Life has certainly not been boring during the last year or so. In May of last year, Max got laid off from his job of nearly seven years at Home Lumber. The Lord has provided for us during every step and we are still receiving blessings for which we are very grateful. He has gone to truck driving school and did very well on his written and practical exams. He is currently working part-time as a delivery driver for AutoZone, and continues to apply for several jobs per week. We are very hopeful something...Expand for more