Shopping

OK now you know I'm crazy--- blogging about shopping. It is a part of culture shock because there is no quality products in Sukhbataar and if I get something nice, it always costs A LOT because it is imported. So it is a wonderful fun time to have so many affordable choices.

I get to go alone while Peter watches the kids, so it is a little break for me. We have switched to an all cash budget, so I have to be careful to spend just the right amount so I don't have to put any groceries back at the checkout! It is like a game to see how much I can get for my cash.

I stick to my list, especially at Vons which seems to have outstanding prices on one or two ad items but very high prices on other things. I am also hooked on Fresh and Easy. I LOVE that store. I like that they send a coupon each week...although it contradicts my last post! I spend almost exactly $30 there and get $6 dollars off! It is a great way to get what I need at even greater discounts.

Fresh and Easy has a great clearance area. I buy all my meat and dairy there because there are no hormones in it and they have really high quality foods. They mark off their products 50% if it even nears the date. I buy all those product and almost nothing else. I met another shopper there yesterday and we were both at the clearance section marveling at the great deals we were getting! We were actually laughing and joking. She does the exact same thing as me buys all sale items and then uses the coupon too!

Then there is the dollar store- 99 cent only store to be exact. Now that store is a little amazement every week. I buy only name brand products there and it really makes living in CA possible for me.

Yesterday I spent $65 and got:
20 snack cups (Weston got his tonsils out and he needs lots of applesauce and pudding...)
3 kinds of bread
12 lbs of meat
6lbs of fruit
5 lbs of veggies
6 lbs of cheese (the amazing Vons price this week!)
3 snack foods
3 cleaning products
2 sauces

Here is a picture.

Maybe I could start a business and be a super shopper for other people and then deliver the groceries to them! What do you think?

Beautiful Morning

Last night there was a huge thunderstorm here and a hailstorm. There is pea-sized hail all over the grass this morning.

Isn't it funny how somedays life seems so impossible and then other mornings I wake up and it is like the first day of the rest of my life. So strange how that happens. Well today is one of those days when all my flaws and mistakes don't hinder my mind and I feel like I could change it all and be what I know I am supposed to be. The danger is that I need to trust God with these wonderful inspiring feelings. How many times have a tried to change or set out with huge plans--- IN MY OWN STRENGTH--- and by the end of the day the failure of my great plans is even more deflating than if I had woke up already deflated. I know that the only way for me to change is through the Lord and asking for his continual help and strength.

So I will set out with my grand plans for the day asking the Lord to help me and direct me. Ok time to get going to my inspired day!

Save though spending??!!

Climbing up on my soapbox--

This is such an asinine idea. I hate ads that say in huge letters "SAVE MONEY".... then in the fine print... "save five dollars when you spend $50." It makes me sick. I am tired of seeing ads like these... does this really bring people into stores to save money by spending it? I don't understand this logic. Saving money means that it is in the bank, a college account, under the mattress, or in retirement portfolio. It doesn't mean that I went to Target to save $5 by spending $50- that is a loss of $45 in my book.

Obama's proposal for for a second economic bailout for the country is exactly the same faulty logic in my understanding. We are going to borrow money from the government, a government that is hugely and totally in debt, and give it into government programs to stimulate the economy. Not a couple of million or even a billion NO A TRILLION DOLLARS. How can this possibly work??? How can a government that is in debt offer a trillion dollars to the people of America? And then there is the way it is going to be offered to "bailout" the economy. According to a news report by Philip Elliot, "President Barack Obama took to the airwaves Saturday to promote his economic aid plan in what's-it-mean-to-me terms: thousands of better schools, lower electricity bills, health coverage for millions who lose insurance."

This will not help the average American. I don't want medical insurance that is mandated by the government. I don't want that amount of red tape just to go to the doctor. I don't want to have to rely on the government to send my children to college or lower my electricity bills. That is not the responsibility of the government in my eyes. If I want to lower my electricity bills I will turn off the lights, TVs, air conditioners, and light a few candles.

I respect what House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio said, ""We cannot borrow and spend our way back to prosperity,"

OK- I'll get off my soapbox now! :)

Northern CA

We are up here with our friends the Cooks. We have a dessert meeting with their church missions committee tonight. Our kids are having a great time with the Cook's kids.

We are having a great time. We'll speak at their church on Sunday and then take off for home on Monday.

Here are some pics from the beach last week, one from Sea World and one of Sierra's pretty hairdo.

Pismo Beach

We are on a business trip/vacation this week. We need to get to Northern California this week, but we are taking our time and driving slowly and enjoying the beauty of the coast. We are at Pismo Beach at a great hotel the Sea Cliff Best Western. It is a great little place. We have a panoramic view of the ocean and we are perched on a cliff. Our patio door is open and I can hear the waves crashing on the rocks. We got a room with two queens and the children are snuggled on one sleeping. It is fun to have them in our room and see their peaceful sleeping faces.

Today we arrived here, went swimming, walked on the beach and watched the sunset. It was such great weather today, around 75 degrees. We usually eat in at our hotel, so while Peter bathed the kids I went out in search of a grocery store.

America has such impressive grocery stores! So many nice choices, even for the microwave! We had fresh ravioli with sauce, green beans, and salad with avocados and tomatoes. Not bad for mini bar dining! It is good to NOT have to run out to a restaurant with the children!

Staying with Friends

We are staying with friends in Santa Clarita. Our friends have three teenage boys, they had three friends over last night and their aunt is here as well so it is is a full house! There are three bedrooms downstairs and we staying are upstairs. Upstairs there is a loft with two bedrooms and a bathroom. Sierra and Weston are staying in one room and we are in the other.

In the middle of the night I hear a clear voice calling, "Rebecca." I wake out of a dead sleep. I think to myself, "Sierra must have escaped and they are calling me to get her." I get out of bed, and I go to the stairs. No one is down there and I think, "It must be God, only God and my mom would call me Rebecca." I am excited and kind of scared and I say, "Yes, Lord?" I wait. I wait. Then out of my groggy sleep zone I realize, "Oh it is the boys down stairs. They must be talking about a girl named Rebecca." And I fell back to sleep.

Today the children woke up with the dawn and so we snuck out at 6:30 so that everyone else could sleep. We walked for an hour on the beautiful paseo system (sidewalks for pedestrians only, through parks) of Santa Clarita, had breakfast at a cafe and then walked back. We decided the four seasons are over rated and realized the true blessing of California "winter."

I'm alive

Sorry that I haven't been writing lately. I was looking at other people's blogs and realizing that I am a bad blogger! :)
We have been having a very good time the last month. We have been with our families for the holidays.
Some of the highlights:

• Lake Havasu Boat Light Parade
• The Bunnell 16 days of Christmas- The children opened a present everyday of December! They got every toy from Toys R Us and several new wardrobes. We might have to add on to our house to accommodate their loot!
• Sierra's 2nd birthday- we decided to do every color of streamer and a puppy theme.
• La Jolla with the Hurley's-walking on the beach was the best part. We walked both at sunset and to ring in 2009.

The kids are doing great.

Weston is really growing into a delightful boy. He will start preschool next month. This month didn't work out because we are traveling and he is getting his tonsils out. I am nervous for him to get them removed, but more nervous to NOT do it. He has a throat infection almost every month and it is so nerve wracking to play doctor mom in Mongolia. He is really a great little pretender now and able to play and talk about things quite thoroughly! I love having little conversations with him. I love his serious nature and the way he mixes that with the ability to tease and make jokes. When he colors a picture I think that he thinks staying in the lines means getting the space COMPLETELY covered with color. He doesn't care if he is out of the line, but is truly not happy until the entire space is covered! He loves to joke too. In Lake Havasu, he thought it was hilarious to call Aunt Julie, Aunt Megan! He delivered the joke well too! He also likes to make up his own silly songs. He closes his eyes and hums to his hearts content and always is very pleased with himself when his song is done.

Sierra is a crack up. She has comic genius in her and has a radar on everybody else's emotions. If someone is sad, she wants to give a full body smasher hug to cheer them up. She is sensitive when she displeases me but she is also a bruiser. She can walk into a perfectly tidy room and destroy it in less than five minutes. She can play hard around the big kids and sound not be allowed to play with babies! Just ask her one year old cousin Logan!

Her hair is out of hand. It falls forward onto her face and now her bangs are too long so she looks like she can't see (bad mommy!) I have done some research this week to figure out how to do hair. I am bad at at it---as anyone that has seen my hair can attest too! I have pulled off some impressive styles this week, I only had to feed her an entire box of Trix to get her to hold still! I will post pictures. She is still NOT sleeping at night. I heard of a Super Nanny trick that seemed to work last night?! We'll see. I never get excited unless it works for two night in a row.

Tomorrow we leave for a 1,000 mile road trip. We'll be in Santa Clarita Thursday-Sunday and then up to Central California the following week. We'll be speaking about Mongolia 4-5 times. It will be good to have the major travel behind us after this trip.!