Back to our regularly scheduled programming.....

I felt it was best for my to take a little bloggy break. The last few weeks were rough, the loss of a friend, the impending anniversary of the loss of a good friend, a little bit of a rough season in our marriage, financial stress and simply being a young, military family all took a toll on us recently.

But, after talking to some friends, seeking advice from a great Chaplain, talking with our amazing Pastor and a marriage retreat that came at a perfect time, we are back on track and clinging to the word of God as well as each other!

So without further ado, I will leave you with some pictures of the amazing little boys that fill my life with so much joy!

You should have seen the other kid....No really! At the marriage retreat T and another little boy literally ran smack into one another. T went to the marriage retreat and all he got was this black eye!

Is my baby boy really this big!! Oh my!!!

I remember.....

9/11/01, was a beautiful fall day in the mountains of North Carolina. I put on my jacket and headed to my Social Deviance class on the beautiful campus of Appalachian State University, as I walked to class that day little did I know the world around me was changing. As class started a student in the hall said "Holy, Shit! My Dad just called and said planes had hit the World Trade Center's!!" our teacher told us to sit down and not worry about it he had a lesson to teach. What, you want me to sit here and learn about prostitutes while something huge is going on? Well that we all did we sat there, as soon as the class was over I ran back to my apartment, which was right off of campus, turned on the news and the first tower was just falling as I turned on the TV. I was saddened beyond belief, I was scared, I was hurting for all of those whom at just lost their lives and those whom had just lost their loved ones. I remember being glued to the television for about 12 straight hours, I remember the sickening horror and anger I had when I found out it was terrorists that took the Trade Centers down and hit the Pentagon. I remember it like it was yesterday, the thing I remember the most was talking to my Dad, he told me "Honey, don't be scared, we live in the greatest Nation in the World, we will rally and we will make sure that this never happens again".

As I sit here 8 years later I constantly hear all around me that it is time to get our men and women out of Afghanistan, why are were even there in the first place. If anyone has a problem remembering why our troops are in Afghanistan, this is why, to take out this terrible enemy force that caused such horrible destruction and a horrible blow to our country and to the lives of 2,996 families on September 11, 2001. There are times when my husband was deployed to Afghanistan that I often forgot why he was there, I was angry he was there and not home with me and our son. I was angry because he was over helping people that I thought did not want him there, but then I realized he was over there helping to further protect our country so that nothing like this will ever happen again, to rid the world of such an enemy so that we will not have a fear of being attacked by terrorists again. The men and women fighting in Afghanistan today do not want the men and women lost in 9/11 to have been lost in vain, the fight for them every day.

On this day, it is important for me to remember all of the men and women that have died fighting for our freedom as well and to insure that 9/11 never happens again. Today, I not only remember those that died on 9/11, but also those from 1/75 Ranger Battalion that have given their lives to insure that the victim's of 9/11 did not die in vain;Sergeant Bradley Crose, Corporal Matthew Commons, Specialist Marc Anderson, Staff Sergeant Anthony Davis, Private First Class Eric Hario, and Staff Sergeant Jason Dahlke.

I remember, do you?

Remembering 9/11: Project 2,996

Daniel Suhr



Daniel Suhr was a 37 year old NYC Firefighter from Engine Co. 216. He was rushing into the North Tower of the World Trade Center when he was struck by one of the people that had either fallen or jumped from the upper floors of the tower. With his death he also saved the lives of 7 of his fellow firefighters; they were all on their way into the North tower when they saw Daniel get struck, they stopped to but him in the ambulance and at the same time the tower fell.

Daniel grew up in Brooklyn, was a star high school football and baseball player, went to Albany State and also a college in California to play football. He was one of six children and was married to his childhood sweetheart Nancy. He and Nance also have a daughter, whom was 2 on Septemeber 11, 2001.

I will never forget and hope that you will never forget either.


Remembering the Victim's of 9/11: Project 2,996 is a project that was started in 2006 to remember the victim's of 9/11.

We are broken....

We are broken, we hurt, we mourn, we cry, we laugh, we remember. If we are all of those things I can not even begin to imagine the pain that SSG Dahlke's and PFC Hario's families are feeling. If we are broken, mourning, crying, laughing and remembering than they are broken, mourning, crying, laughing and remembering ten fold.

I have known that WAR is real, but in the past 12 months I have been rocked to the core not 1 time, not 2 times, not 3 times, but now 4 times that WAR is real. C and I lost a close friend last September (Cpt. Rich Cliff), C lost a fellow comrade in January (SSG Anthony Davis) and now C mourns the loss of another comrade and friend (SSG Jason Dahlke) and although we did not personally know PFC Hario, we feel his loss as well.

There is no way that I could ever do these men justice in writing, these men are amazing, selfless heroes. I can with certainty say that SSG Dahlke died doing what he loved and that may make it a little bit easier, however we are still broken, we still hurt, we still mourn, we still cry, we still laugh and we will always remember. There is not a day that goes by nor is there a day that will ever go by will I will not think of these men with the utmost pride, respect and thankfullness. I am proud to have known them and am a better person for having them in my life.

SSG Jason Dahlke doing what he did best, he loved his country, family and friends more than he loved himself.

SSG Jason Dahlke's funeral, he laid down his life to protect us all and for that I am forever grateful.

PFC Eric Hario, it is said that he always wanted to be a Ranger, the best of the best and he died doing just that.

PFC Eric Hario's funeral, to you Eric I am thankful.

Prayers for Ben and Katie

Ben and Katie are friends of ours here in Columbus, Ben works with C. On Thursday evening they were hit by a truck at a high rate of speed. Ben is currently, 39 hours after the accident, still in a medically induced coma, due to bleeding in his brain. Katie is currently recovering from surgery last night the repair 2 tears in her intestines and will have surger to repair her broken arm on Monday.

Please, take a moment to say a prayer for these two wonderful people, their family and friends. I know that it takes a lot for me to tell that my husband is upset, but I can see the pain in his eyes and hear the sadness in his voice. It is hard for these warriors to understand how one can make it home from combat so many times safely to be injured while at home.

They also have a Blog where there will be updates on their condition. C is going to head up to the hospital today to see Ben, so hopefully I will have an update for you then.

The Heart of a Hero....

I always new what my husband did for a living was dangerous, so dangerous that in fact I will never truly know exactly what it is that he did. He has since moved to a non-deploy able section of his Regiment, but for 4 years when he packed his green bags and headed out the door I never knew if he was coming home. Thankfully the Lord provided the opportunity for him to come home safely and mostly unharmed, the Lord provided this for us not once, but 4 times.

The past year has been a tough one in our "family", first C and I lost our dear friend Captain Richard "Richie" Cliff,I can not say enough how deep that hurt us. I grew up in the same hometown as Richie, was taught Biology by his mother in High School and C did ROTC with Richie at ASU. He was a friend to me and a great friend and mentor to C. He is in my thoughts every day and I pray that God helps his family as the first anniversary of his death is creeping in on us. Secondly, C lost another friend this year shortly after we lost Richie,Staff Sergeant Anthony Davis, C served with him in his last deployment before taking his non-deploy able position, it hit C hard.

Big Richie and Little Richie, about 3 weeks before Big Richie was KIA

Recently a young Ranger by the name of CPL Benjamin Kopp was killed in action if Afghanistan, he served with the Battalion that is here where my husband is now. I knew that CPL Kopp was killed as the former Battalion Chaplain attends our church and did the service for CPL Kopp. What I did not know and have just recently become privy too is the amazing story of a selfless hero that just keeps on giving. This article brought me to my knees, I am amazed at how our men and women keep on giving even after paying the ultimate sacrifice. What a selfless act of love, CPL Kopp died for his country and then gifted the opportunity for someone to be able to have a new life!!! I amazed and awe struck, the heart of a hero truly does beat on!

Publix Shopping 101

I have had a few requests for help on how to save big at Publix, therefore I decided it was time to post my Publix shopping 101 post. First off let me tell you that last week at Publix I spent $10.73 cents and that was a savings of 82% off of the regular prices, many of my items were free or pretty close to free!

Publix shopping rules:

1. Always shop the circular for your local market that is found online. There is an ad that comes out in the Sunday paper that includes the penny item coupon, but this ad just has a small selection of what is really for sale at Publix that week.
2. I never purchase items that are not on sale at Publix unless I have a coupon that makes them completely free. Unless an item is on sale at Publix their prices are seemingly higher than the commissary or Wal-mart where I would usually get those items.
3. In order to fully maximize Publix shopping and get your full savings you must clip/print coupons. Publix has a pretty awesome coupon policy, they double coupons up to 50 cents, you can use a Publix coupon(which can be found in their magazine type papers that are foudn at the front of the store or you can sign up for some of them on their website) along with a manufacturer's coupon, when you buy items that are B1G1 you can use 2 coupons, you can use printable coupons up to $4 and they also take competitor's coupons for other stores you have in your area, in Columbus that would usually be the Target printables.
4. Use the B1G1 sales to stockpile. The more you stockpile the less you will have to shop for things that are typically on the B1G1 sales such as spaghetti sauce, pasta, cereal, juice,etc.
   
5. When you purchase B1G1 items you do not have to purchase 2 of the item if you do not want to, if you purchase just 1 item then you will get that item for half off.
6. Each Wednesday the new circular comes out there is a great website called Fiddledeedee where she matches all of that weeks B1G1 and sale items with printable coupons and tells you in what coupon fliers in the paper you can find the non printable coupons for the items. Remember when looking at this site, most of the time when you print a coupon you can press the back button and print a coupon again, making it possible for you to have 2 coupons for the B1G1 sales.
7. Always make sure you try to have a coupon for the item you want to buy, however with that said the majority of the times on a B1G1 sale the items are cheaper than any other store. Publix has the best B1G1 sale around.

With that said allow me to show you last weeks $10.73 shopping trip:

• 2 Kraft salad dressings: Reg $3.00/each on sale B1G1 for $1.50/each. I used 2 $1.50 off Kraft salad dressing coupons found on the Cooking with Kraft website making these items free!
• 4 Muir Glen tomato sauce: Reg .89. I used 4 $1.00 of any Muir Glen item coupons found Bettycrocker.com making these items free plus .11 overage for each can.
• 3 Mueller's Pasta: Reg $1.39/each on sale B1G1 for .70 each. I used a $1.00 off of the purchase of 3 found on pastavalue.com making these items cost .36 each for a total of $1.10.
• 1 Go-gurt: Reg $2.99/each on sale B1G1 for $1.50. I purchased 1 and used a .40 coupon which was doubled to .80 found here making the Go-gurt .70.
• 4 Chef-boyardee cans: Reg $1.50 on sale for .85. I used 4 $1.00 off any Chef-boyardee item coupons found on the Simple and Delicious website making these items free plus a .15 overage for each item.
• 2 Hormel ready to eat entrees: Reg $5.5o/each on sale for $4.00/each. I used 2 $2.00 of Hormel item coupons found here making these items $2.00 each for a total of $4.00.
• 2 Betty Crocker supreme brownie mix: Reg $2.69 each on sale B1G1 for $1.35 each. I used a .75 off of 2 coupon making these .97 each for a total of $1.94.
• 2 Kraft Shells-n-Cheese: Reg $2.59 on sale B1G1 for $1.30 each. I used a $1.50/2 coupon found here making these items .55 each for a total of $1.10.
• Kraft BBQ Sauce: Reg $1.39. I used a coupon that was found on the Shells and Cheese box for a free bottle of BBQ sauce when you purchase 2 Shells and Cheese. Making this item free!
• Beechnut Mixed Cereal: Reg $1.89. I used a B1G1 coupon from a previous box of cereal to make these items .95 each for a total of $1.80

Overall last week I received 2 bottles of salad dressing(we use them for marinades for chicken), 4 cans of tomato sauce(for homemade spaghetti sauce), 4 cans of Chef-boyardee, and a bottle of Barbecue sauce completely free!! Which makes my free items a value of $13.95 completely free!

I purchased 21 items for $10.73 making that .51 for each item on average. Not too shabby if you ask me!!