Off-Topic But Important

This post will definitely be off my usual subjects, but I know that the majority of my audience is like me- female, likely a mother, probably a mother to young children- and so I have decided to address a topic that has become important to me recently. The topic is women and guns. 

Don't run screaming to another blog, I am not going to go all G.I. Jane on you. I just want to briefly share my story and encourage you to keep an open mind. A couple of years ago, just before my little girl turned one and my son was 2, my husband and I were awakened by our house alarm at 4:30 am. We could see from the system touch pad screen in our room that the front door had been opened. My husband grabbed his gun and stationed himself at the top of the stairs, pointing the gun down toward the opened front door while I called 911 and grabbed my baby daughter and took her into my son's room at the end of the hall. 

We were fortunate that the intruder was scared off by the alarm, but the whole experience left me feeling extremely vulnerable as I realized how defenseless I had been in that room alone with the children. What if something had happened to Chad? How would I protect myself and my children? Those thoughts are what propelled me into eventually concluding that I needed to have my own gun, and I needed to know how to use it and be comfortable using it.

Shortly after that unnerving night, my husband took me to the target range to shoot his gun. However, it was heavy and very awkward for me to use, and in his excitement he glossed over most of the safety instructions, basically just telling me to point and shoot. I didn't do so well, and the experience made me feel even worse about my situation, making me question if I could ever really successfully defend myself using a gun.

Fast forward to this past July, when my brother e-mailed me a Craigslist posting he had seen looking for a female who was considering purchasing a gun for the first time. I looked into it, and it had been posted by the National Geographic Channel as part of their preparation for an upcoming show about guns in America. I responded to the ad, and after a series of e-mails and phone calls with the producer, we scheduled a weekend for filming. 

To make this long post shorter, the show will be airing tomorrow night (Tuesday Dec. 9th) at 10pm on the National Geographic Channel. My story will be one of many, but I am hoping that it is portrayed in a way that was true to my experience as I worked with the crew over the weekend of filming. They took me to a gun show where I had the opportunity to talk with some very nice and helpful people who began to 'show me the ropes' of gun usage and ownership, and then they hooked me up with a fantastic instructor who took me step by baby step through gun safety and, eventually, actually firing the gun. 

My whole perspective changed completely over the course of those two days, and I am certain that there are other women out there who probably feel much like I did in the beginning- anxious, trepidatious, and even just scared- who could watch this show and realize that they don't have to feel that way. A gun is a tool that is available for you to use to protect yourself and your children, and if you treat it that way and embrace knowledge rather than fear, then you can stop being a victim and take responsibility for your life and your protection.

To read more about my experiences with filming, check out my entry on the National Geographic Channel Blog.  For a brief synopsis of the show, check out National Geographic Explorer Episodes: Guns in America.

Let's hope I don't make myself look like a complete dork. ;-) 

Spiritual Sundays: What Happened to CHRISTmas?

The Nativity from Reflections of Christ by Mark Mabry

During my long post-Thanksgiving drive last weekend, I was listening to the radio and hearing a lot of Christmas music, which I love. But as I listened, I started to get really annoyed. I think the song was, "Joy to the World":

Joy to the world, the Lord is come

Let Earth receive her King

Let every heart prepare Him room...

As I listened to these words, I was frustrated, because here was a radio station that usually played all sorts of rock songs and love songs, and every other kind of random song- why was it that radio stations can only play music about Jesus Christ at Christmastime? If we really want earth to receive her King, and for every heart to make room for Him, then why only think about Him once a year? Why does the world only celebrate the "reason for the season" during the season? 

Our Savior has given us everything- He came to earth as a man and suffered all pains and afflictions so that all mankind could be saved, and mankind only seems to notice for one month out of the year, and unfortunately, even that one month has gotten so polluted with the bells and whistles of celebration that most people have forgotten what we're even celebrating. That's what bothers me.

If you think about it, it was really quite the clever plan that Satan devised. He took the celebration of the sacred birth of Jesus Christ and said, "Hmm...how can I turn this away from Christ and instead focus it on all my favorite things- selfishness, greed, stress, pride, and frivolity?" So then he took the part of Christmas that was supposed to celebrate our desire to become more Christlike- the giving of gifts- and made it all about the gifts rather than the giving. Christmas has become all about the gifts. It's about shopping, wrapping, baking, trees, and decorations. It's about making lists of things you want to get, and lists of things you have to buy. It's about giving a gift that's better than everyone else's, and most likely spending more money than you have to do so. Somewhere along the way, Christ got forgotten amid all the shopping and wrapping and partying.

So I would like to challenge you to put Christ back in your Christmas. And I will offer you two places to start. The first is a beautiful piece of prose entitled, "Mary's Dream." I loved this so much that I sent it out to our friends and family last year as our Christmas card.

The second is a bit of homework in preparation for next week's Spiritual Sunday post- I would like you to visit Reflections of Christ. I will warn you ahead of time- this will probably touch your heart and perhaps make you cry. It is a slideshow of some incredible art photography of the Savior's life set to music, and it is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. It touches me every single time. I think that watching this is a beautiful way to truly celebrate Christmas.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."- John 3:16

For more about what I believe as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, check out www.mormon.org.

Funny Friday: O Christmas Tree

Mommy, I want THIS one!

This is the Christmas tree my son wanted last year when we went to the Christmas tree farm. He just didn't understand why we couldn't take it home with us (yes he's that tiny dot standing in front of it).

To find a Christmas tree farm in your area, visit the National Christmas Tree Association.

Easy Deals of the Week: Stocking Stuffers!

Be prepared for a potential wrapping-papercut on Christmas morning...

Welcome to another edition of Easy Deals of the Week, where I help you snag some great deals using only coupons from last Sunday's paper or coupons you can print from your computer! As always, thanks to Money Saving Mom for help with these deals.

The deals are somewhat sparse this week, but there are a few items that might make for some great stocking stuffers!

Walgreens:

Excedrin Express Gels- on sale $5, Buy 3 and get $8 in Register Rewards (use like cash on your next Walgreens purchase)

Use 3 $2 off 1 printable coupons

$0.99 for 3 after coupons and Register Rewards!

Wal-Mart:

Johnsons Mini First Aid kits- $0.99 each

Use $3 off 2 printable coupon

FREE plus overage ($1.02 will go toward any other items you may be purchasing!)

K-Mart:

Gillette Men's Body Wash- on sale $3.99

Use $2 off 1 coupon from last Sunday's paper which will be doubled to $4 with K-Mart's Super Double Coupons promotion this week

FREE after coupon!

Have you snagged some good deals this week? I have- and I'll post about them tomorrow...

Two Tools to Save You $$ This Christmas: Inbox Dollars and Entertainment Book

Black Friday is over and done with, but that doesn't mean there aren't still ways to save a bundle this holiday season! I thought I'd share two of my favorite money saving/money making tools with you. I would like to add that I never endorse anything on this blog that I have not tried or would not be willing to try, and if I say I've tried it- I'm telling the truth! And if I'm endorsing it, I really believe in it and I enthusiastically recommend it to my friends (like you!) whether you sign up for/buy it through my blog or not (though it's awfully nice when you do sign up through my blog ;-)).

The first thing I want to recommend is Inbox Dollars:

 This is a company that I really like because there are so many ways to both earn money and save money. I signed up for Inbox Dollars earlier this year, and I have gotten one check from them. Basically, the way it works is that once you sign up, they start sending you e-mails with advertising in them. All you have to do is to click the link in the e-mail that says, "Click here to confirm reading this paid e-mail", and you receive a few cents for each e-mail you read. I'm always checking my e-mail throughout the day anyway, and it only takes a few seconds for each one, so I don't mind doing it and getting paid.

Every now and then you'll get an e-mail that will contain a special offer by a company, and if you take advantage of the offer and sign up with the company or purchase the product, Inbox Dollars will reward you with more cash. For example, I purchased some business cards through one of the e-mails I got, and only paid a few dollars for a few hundred business cards and got $4 through Inbox Dollars for doing it. So really, with the promotion, the cards cost me very little (I wish I could remember the exact numbers, but I can't). Right now there is a deal for Snapfish that is a good example of the type of thing I'm talking about- sign up and get $4 from Inbox Dollars plus 50 free prints. Not bad!

Another cool thing about Inbox Dollars is that if you do your online shopping through their site you can earn a percentage back on everything you spend. You can shop at all your usual spots- for me it's eBay, Amazon, Target, and Wal-Mart- but you get back anywhere from 1% to 15%, depending on the store. 

The other two ways to save with Inbox Dollars are cash surveys ($0.50-$1 apiece) and cash games (I have never done those). I like the surveys because sometimes I have a few minutes to kill (on hold, watching tv, etc.) and you might as well make a little money while you're not otherwise occupied. 

Like I said, I signed up earlier this year, and I reached the point where I could request a check- I think it was $30- and I had to pay a "processing fee" of $5, which wasn't a big deal because I was still getting $25. But it's just a nice way to "unconsciously" make a few extra bucks without a lot of work and hassle. And, as with most of these kinds of companies, you can increase your earnings by getting your friends to sign up.

If it sounds like something you'd be interested in, you can sign up here. It's free to sign up, and you can start making money and shopping right away. It works for me!

My second recommendation would have to be the Entertainment Book (this is a great deal they're offering now, by the way):

 It's a coupon book, and the name of it is somewhat misleading because it has coupons for everything from restaurants to movies to all the major retail stores. This year is the second year in a row I've purchased one (last year was when I discovered it- through Inbox Dollars, actually!) and it has already paid for itself and I've only had it for a month.

Just for fun, I decided to make a brief list of some of the great places other than restaurants (because I think they have nearly every restaurant in here- from McDonald's to a Japanese Steakhouse) included in my Entertainment Book this year:

- Linens-n-Things

- Dick's Sporting Goods

- Shoe Carnival

- Wet Seal

- S&K

- Sharper Image

- Brookstone

- Radio Shack

- Barnes & Noble

- Florists of every kind

- Car & Truck rental

- Automotive services

- Zoo

- Symphony

- Movie Theater

- Bowling

- Theme Parks

- Hotels

- Lawn Care

And the list goes on and on! I don't know about you, but chances are I'll be going to at least two restaurants this year, and if the restaurant coupons are Buy One Entree, Get One Free (most of them are) then I've just paid for my book.

Another great feature of the Entertainment Book is that you get an online membership as well, which allows you to access additional savings through the website. 

You can order the book today (order today and get Free Shipping!) and have it in time for some last-minute Christmas shopping, not to mention that they also make great gifts for your money-saving family and friends. Why pay full price for anything ever again?? ;-)

And of course, this post would not be complete without a brief reminder about Swag Bucks (I just love Swag Bucks!). To read more about my budding Swag Bucks success, click here. :-)

I wish you all the best bargain hunting this Christmas, and I encourage you to expand your money-saving minds and try something new. You never know- you might just hit a gold mine!

What Happened to Spiritual Sunday?

Image by Mandar Marathe

Many of you probably noticed the absence of a Spiritual Sundays post yesterday, and that is because our simple 6-hour trip back from our Thanksgiving weekend in West Virginia turned into a 8 1/2-hour headache! We managed to hit four different traffic jams, and it was raining the whole way and I was sick to boot (yes, ANOTHER cold!) and by the time we finally got home, just about the only thing I was able to do was heat up some soup for dinner, put the kids to bed, and crash. 

But, the good thing about the long drive was that I had 8 1/2 hours to write lots of posts in my head, so you can look forward to many traffic-jam-inspired pieces of literature in the near future (hopefully they will not reflect my actual mood at the time of the traffic jam!), including a special 3-part Christmas edition of Spiritual Sundays starting next Sunday. 

So don't despair- Spiritual Sundays shall return!

How was your holiday travel? Easy or excruciating? Leave a comment and let's commiserate! 

Makeover Monday: Falling Into the Holidays!

Fall vase before...

Remember back when I was "fallifying" my home? Well, I decided to give this $2 Goodwill vase a new job for Christmas. I put the scented pine cones and fall leaves into a ziploc bag for storage and picked up 2 packages of colored glass ornaments from the Dollar Store. A clear vase, some shiny ornaments, and I have myself a gorgeous Christmas decoration for my mantel!

Christmas vase after!

I think this would also be really beautiful with silver and blue (or green!) ornaments, maybe add some tinsel for more texture, and even tie a bow around it for a more festive feel. The possibilities are endless! Christmas, here we come!

How is your Christmas decorating going? Do you have any great thrifty holiday decorating ideas to share?