I've decided to become frugal

The title of this post says it all! I am determined to save the Nadalet family some money. I think the best way to jump start that is to save money in grocery shopping. For the past few weeks, I have been reading www.moneysavingmom.com for ideas on saving money and eating cheaply. Today I have planned out our menu for next week, and I am planning to go shopping for the items tonight.

But first, I want to share our number 1 rule in finances. God gave us this money and it's really his. So we need to honor that and give him what is His. Right now that is a little over 10% of our income, and we hope to increase it in coming years. That's what my grandpa did, and he left behind a legacy of caring and giving. He was seen as generous, we would both love to be seen in that way. So, as we begin our journey into living cheaply, we want to honor God first, with the money that he gave us. I have no doubt that he will provide for whatever comes our way. Hopefully you can be encouraged by this, and hey, maybe you will encourage me!

Megan

Congo

While researchers have just found a large population of rare Gorillas in Congo, thus raising the known number of this endangered species. The people in Congo still need Bibles. Let me know if you want to buy a onesie. Or if you just want to donate. Either way is good! As Brian Regan says, both good.

Mr. Rogers

I grew up loving Mister Rogers. And I loved when he showed you how things were made (I will always remember how crayons are made, because of him). And this article just goes to show why he was so awesome. Check it out if you have a minute!

Bibles for Congo, Part 2

Here are the rest of the onesies, that I have left. A few have already sold. Anyways, let me know which one you want, and I will take it off the market! And some of them have not been stitched on yet (I use a fabric glue first and then stitch the Africa), so don't be confused if it looks incomplete. It is just so you can see the colors and fabric. They will be stitched before you receive them! And like I said before, let me know if you need a different size or gender option. I can get new ones!

Pink and Teal (sorry it's flipped weird, I don't know why blogger does that!) 12-18 mos
SOLD!

Green and Gold, 9-12 months: SOLD! Yay!

Pink and Green, 9-12 months
SOLD!

Purple and green, 18-24 months
SOLD! Yay!

Blue and Blue, 12-18 months

Green and Blue, 18-24 months

Bibles for Congo

Matthew is back on staff at Trinity, again as the Praxis (college) intern. That means that we are involved in the college group activities again. This summer we are helping raise money to send Bibles to Congo. It costs $6 to send a Bible to Congo, in their native Lingala. Which is pretty sweet, seeing as some of the pastors (like 2/3's of the pastors) do not have Bibles. This is a national project of the Evangelical Free Church (union or however churches are joined by denomination) that we are jumping on. Last week, we met a pastor from San Jose who is either coordinating this whole thing, or very high up in it. He gets emails from the newly elected president of Congo, how cool is that? And sending bibles is just a small part of what the Evangelical Free Church is doing over there. There are also orphanages being built, food being distributed, textbooks being sent over, etc.

Anyways, Mark (the pastor) encouraged each of us to come up with our own, unique way to raise money. One girl designed a shirt with a sweet logo, that has become a trademark for the whole campaign that Praxis is doing. Matt made stickers, using that logo (those are $2 (or $1, I'm not sure), so they buy part of a Bible, but more importantly, they get the word out. Someone bought water bottles at Vons and then re-sold them at Huntington Beach for a donation. Another guy bought a bible for each birdie that he shot in a tournament, and his mom matched him with 4 bibles per birdie. That's 50 bibles right there! We are also collecting change, some people are turning in recycling and using that money for Bibles for Congo. I tried to think of what I could do (bake sale, make hats (which would TOTALLY copy what we did for Invisible Children), etc) and came up with an idea to reach moms, and people with friends or relatives who had babies.

Onesies! So I have sewed on a little Africa and painted on, Bibles for Congo. I will post the pictures here, let me know if you want to buy a specific one. And a little note about the sizes, they run WAY smaller than what they are. So a 6-9 would fit a newborn to like 3 or 4 months. A 10-12 fits a 6-9. etc. I have a few completely finished right now, which I will post, and then I have more (in larger sizes) which are almost done! Let me know if you need a different size and if it is for a boy or girl or one that could go either way (like the orange one). You can either leave a comment or facebook me or email me, if you know that info! Sorry the pictures are sideways, I can't figure out how to change that!

This is basically what the onesie looks like:

6-9 months (I don't know why it's not rotated): SOLD! Yay!

6-9 months: SOLD! Another Bible to Congo!

6-9 months: SOLD!!!! Woohoo

6-9 months

10-12 months

Emily is Married!

So exciting! Their wedding was so beautiful and wonderful and I was so lucky to be a part of it. Joel took some amazing pictures, check out clients.joelflory.com/emilyandmatt to see a slideshow! But being in their wedding made me think about weddings. And how many I have been to or in. Here's what I can think of so far, in dated order (somewhat)

Dan & Maribelle McNely (I was a flower girl)
Bryan & Kelly DeGhetto
Eric & Jennifer (aka Pinky) Grbich
Alan & Jay Yu
Brian & Cassi Nesmith
Aaron & Lauren Grbich
Cody & Amy Moxley
John & Melody Townsend
Dirk & Alicia Dallas
Matt & Megan Nadalet (that's our wedding!!)
Matt & Emily West (Matron of Honor)

And those to come later this year/next year:
Mike & Sarah Atwood (less than 3 weeks)
Bill & Jenna Clayton (September)
Adam & Sarah Belknap (September or October, not sure)
Eric & Shayna Bennett (October)
Corwin & Mandy Wong (May 09)

So 11 so far and 5 more to come! Crazy! Did I forget anyone else?


Oh, and here are a few pics that I stole from Christine of Em's wedding. I will have mine up in a bit.

Getting Ready with some Go-Girls...

Being Sassy... just like Em!

Isn't that bridal party stunning?

Here's Mr. & Mrs. Matt West! Woo!

Summer Cookin

I have been trying to figure out how to make healthy and VERY cheap meals.  So that means that we accept whatever free food that we are given!  And right now Terry (Matt's mom) is growing squash and zucchini.  So I am trying to figure out cool ways to cook zucchini, so that it actually tastes good.  Stuffed with ground beef, onions, garlic, and diced zucchini is good. But barbecued is definitely the best way to go!  Matthew hates to barbecue, so I realized I would have to bbq on m own if I wanted it to happen.  So one day I decided to barbecue everything we had and see how it went. I marinated chicken in garlic and herb marinade, and the zucchini was marinated in that as well.  The squash was marinated in italian dressing.  And the asparagus was drizzled in olive oil and then spiced with Trader Joes' 21 Seasoning Salute and some sea salt and pepper.  It all turned out quite delicious, and I discovered I'm pretty handy at the grill. The chicken was cooked completely through and there were not burnt parts. Oh!  And I didn't set any bushes on fire when I lit the grill.  I have barbecued a few times since then, basically whenever we want tasty zucchini!  Tonight we had carribean jerk chicken and garlic and herb zucchini.  Yum-O!  

Here are some pics of the barbecue extravaganza:

Governator

The Governator, who I met in Salzburg, see below, has declared a statewide drought. Those in the East Bay already knew this was coming and are rationing water. Most people in So Cal think the world revolves around them and there has to be somewhere else we can steal water from (Oregon? It's probably very clean)! haha Anyways, I have been starting to try and conserve water already. After my last trip to the bay when I wasn't allowed to take a bath (showers are fast and ok), I felt guilty for stealing Northern California water, and began the conservation effort. How did we (I got Matt in on it too) do this? Well, let me tell you a little saying that was heard many times around the Koenig household a few weeks ago: "If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down." (Sidenote: if it's yellow but hasn't been flushed in 3 or 4 uses, then it's okay to flush it down. ) I think you get the drift. So, we will continue to try to save water (I used to like baths...). I hope you can to. And that's my public service announcement for today.

Lauren, how's the water in Germany?

Rainy days in Redlands

Last week brought around a very weird weather storm. There were tornadoes in Riversides, and flash flood warnings in Lake Elsinore. Not to mention snow in Yucaipa and hail all over Redlands. The thunder and lightening were amazing. On lightening bolt looked like it was going straight into Trader Joes!

This weather also came into our house. Apparently the leak in our roof was never fixed, or if it was, it was not fixed well. Friday morning we woke up to brown water in our light fixtures (the flat plastic kind that you find in schools), yeah. Not fun. We called maintenance and they came by... don't know what they did, but they came by. Then on Saturday the water was all over the counter, coming in through the cabinets. Lovely. They were supposed to look at it today. Matt has some pictures, so maybe I will post them later.

On other news, praise the Lord! We found our passports. We had not been able to find them since before I went to the Bay Area last week. We thought we put them in the safe at Matthew's parents house, but they were nowhere to be found. I finally started praying about it yesterday, and Matt's little lockbox thing came to mind. It's a little box that attaches around something (ie a bed leg) and you have to twist the combo to open it. That's where he kept my ring before he gave it to me. So when we got home, I found that, and there were the passports! It's amazing what happens when you slow down and listen to God. He wants to, and will, help us! Oh and I found a hundred dollar bill the day before, inside a book, while I was looking for the passports. We can now get the mattress topper that we want! yay! God is good.

Shows, Plants, & a Truck

Life has been pretty crazy over here in the Nadalet household. We celebrated our first mother's day together (no, not as a mother) by going to the Nadalet Seniors for brunch. Glenn made a cornbread and stuff fritata, very tasty! And we had mimosas with prosecco! woo!

The day before was Matthew's first "show" as a vendor/showman (i don't know?). It was for Guide dogs of the desert, for whom he painted the rocking chair (see below), in exchange for free advertising. We had some adventures during the previous week trying to get everything in order. But it all worked out, as you can see in the picture of me at the booth. And he also got some business from a guy who owns a custom bike shop (it was a bike run, if you can call it a run; so it was 98% bikers there). That same guy also invited Matt back the next weekend for his shop's show. So Matt gets another weekend of free advertising. I am going to miss it, because I will be up North for 2 showers. One is a wedding and one is a baby, i will let you guess which shower is for which cousin.

I have been getting into gardening. I need something to channel my nesting and mothering tendencies to do. I also want to prove to myself that I can grow something, because I have a black thumb (I kill plants). Case in point. My mini greenhouse. It's no longer together because it fell into the sink. Twice. The first time it was because I knocked it over. Th

And my truck is for sale. It's a 2000 Dodge Dakota and I love it. But I need to part with it, so Matthew and I can have a car and a truck, not 2 trucks! If you are interested, or know anyone who might be, please let me know! And no, we aren't selling it for $2,500, that offer has already been made. It is Kelly Blue Booked at $6,000. So we are asking $5,700. But call us if you have more questions.

Me at the show (just realized how stupid I look, ignore my face and look at the rhino plastics on the wall, they are like a woodie! And you can't see it, but that's a tiki on the hood!)

The Rocking Chair (someone else added the random bike parts)

My very cute pots!

It's starting to grow!!


My truck, please buy it!