Friday, May 18, 2012

7 Quick Takes Friday (Take 58)


--- 1 ---

Thanks to those of you who prayed for my mom last weekHer infection was minor and she was able to come home on Saturday. She's still experiencing quite a bit of pain and her recovery has been difficult because my dad works out of town four days a week and can't help her.  Continued prayers would be great, but it looks like she's on the mend and she's scheduled to be back at work a week from Monday.

--- 2 ---
 
I had a new guest post this week in my Baby on a Budget series entitled "Top Ten Couponing Tips for Beginners".  It's a great introduction for anyone who wants to start couponing or who wants to do a little more with it.  It is by no means only for the parent of a baby, the post was written by Beth Anne of The Catholic Couponer who is not a mom.  I am planning to write a more specific post on baby coupons, but this is a great introduction.  Although I consider myself to be pretty handy with the coupons (but not a professional "couponer" by any means), several of the tips were completely new to me.  Thank you, Beth Anne!

--- 3 ---


In case you missed the big news for our family, my husband graduated on Sunday!  I wrote him a letter earlier this week to tell him how proud I am and how much it means to our family.

--- 4 ---

Speaking of graduation, David is now looking for jobs.  Well, he didn't just start, he's been at it for awhile, but no luck yet.  We are going to have to make some very difficult decisions soon about whether David should continue pursuing post-docs to work toward his dream career in academia (which would most likely mean we would stay here in North Carolina) or whether he should widen his job search to industry jobs in order to have a better chance of moving back to Colorado.  If you get a chance, would you shoot up a prayer that we might soon given a sign as to which way God wants us to go?
--- 5 ---

Today, two students asked me if I was pregnant.  My response: no, but I did just have a baby.  I didn't add that by "just" I meant over five months ago.  I'm within five pounds of my pre-pregnancy weight, but as evidenced by the questions, not everything is distributed quite the same as before.  I thought I was looking quite nice when I left the house this morning; there's nothing quite like a few middle schoolers to humble you.

--- 6 ---

David's graduation happened to be on Mother's Day, so we didn't really do anything special.  But since it was my first Mother's Day (at least with a baby in the arms instead of in the womb), I did get a picture with my favorite girl.  Unfortunately, you can't see the corsage I was wearing.  David's mom bought it for me and I wore it with pride all day!

--- 7 ---

What is your favorite online tool?  I recently discovered an amazing meal planner.  Then I found a few sites that make going out of town a bit easier.  And I can't forget the many ways I make a little money online to help supplement our income.  And then there are those that are just fun (read: time sucking) like Pinterest.  Are there any big sites I'm missing out on?  I'd especially love to find more of the former (useful ones) than the later (time killing) ones (although to be fair, I have found some awesome recipes on Pinterest).


For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

10 comments:

  1. I'm so glad to hear that your mom is doing better.  I'm continuing to pray for her!
    Congratulations to David on his graduation!  What a glorious event for your family!  I pray for you both daily and ask that God will show you what path He wants you to take.  It is so difficult to navigate post-doctoral jobs.  I'm apprehensive about Colin's academic job search, so I know what it's like.  But God will show us the way. :)
    Gotta love the post-baby shape.  I don't think it's ever the same.  I was actually thinner a few months after having Elise than I am now, because I was nursing her so much then.  Since she's slowed down to 2-3 feedings a day, I'm suddenly dealing with extra weight.  Sigh. 
    Happy belated Mothers' Day!
     

    ReplyDelete
  2. I can remember when I was like 10 my sisters friend asking my mom if she was pregnant. My mom was always "fluffy" though. 

    Thanks for letting me post and for the mention! It was actually really fun to write. I wanted to write something that was easy for beginners bc when I started couponing the amount of info i found was soooo overwhelming!!

    Man I use a TON of online tools I'm not sure which one is my favorite. I really like using a digital calendar. Since I have a mac I use iCalendar and I like that I can set it to alert me when something is due. I can even set it to email me. I do like pinterest and even though it's a timesuck I have found a ton of really helpful tips/projects/foods from it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ditto on the baby weight. Sigh. All of me is looking great, except the part of me that requires fitting into pants. You look beautiful, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Nothing makes a woman more beautiful than her adoring gaze at her baby (made all the better when the baby is as cute as Lucia).

    ReplyDelete
  4. Erin K. DansereauMay 22, 2012 at 1:33 PM

    Congrats to your husband, Mandi! And best of luck on the job search. My husband is now ABD, and  will probably need to start looking at jobs in a year or so, so we will be in that boat eventually. We know that jobs in academia are not the easiest to find...

    ReplyDelete
  5. Erin K. DansereauMay 22, 2012 at 1:34 PM

    Congrats to your husband, Mandi! And best of luck on the job search. My husband is now ABD, and  will probably need to start looking at jobs in a year or so, so we will be in that boat eventually. We know that jobs in academia are not the easiest to find...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Congrats to your husband, Mandi! And best of luck on the job search. My husband is now ABD, and  will probably need to start looking at jobs in a year or so, so we will be in that boat eventually. We know that jobs in academia are not the easiest to find...

    ReplyDelete
  7. More than anything, I just want to have clothes that fit right.  I'm not (very) concerned about looking like I did before.  Although there are those moments when I get a little frustrated with how I look.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I used to use the calendar in Outlook, but I've kind of gotten out of the habit.  I don't have as much to schedule, I guess.

    ReplyDelete
  9.  Thanks for all the prayers for my mom!  I'm so grateful to have so many faithful women praying for her! 

    Thanks, hope your mother's day was wonderful as well!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Yeah. I started using it because I tutor online and would be all ready to go but forgot to sign in due to other "time sucks" but the online calendar will send a sound or box to alert me "hey it's 9pm sign in" so it is helpful that way :) I keep telling my mom she needs to start using one and sync it to her phone now that we have fancy phones bc she never has her calendar with her. We'll see if I can get her to change ;)

    ReplyDelete

I'd love to hear what you have to say! You can also contact me directly by emailing me at messywifeblessedlife@gmail.com.