Yeah I know you probably don’t care… but you might if the world ever falls apart and you’re hungry. You can always come to my beginnings of my own food bank haha

These are some of the GREAT deals I got this week…

• 8 boxes of Betty Crocker boxed potatoes – FREE
• 2 boxes of Betty Crocker brownie mix – 97 cents each
• 2 bags of Nestle Toll House morsels – 25 cents each
• 14 packages of Nestle Toll House cookie dough – 45 cents each (EVERY ONE’S getting cookies for Christmas this year! haha)
• 6 bags of Birds Eye Voila frozen meals – $1.75 each (normally $4.99+)
• 8 boxes of Aunt Jemima frozen pancakes and french toast – 84 cents each
• 2 boxes of Kashi cereal – FREE
• 2 DiGiorno pizzas – $3.50 each (normally 6.99+)
• 2 boxes of Tylenol – FREE

So after all was said and done I got $230 worth of groceries for $70! AND a good bit of what I actually had to spend was other stuff I didn’t have coupons for

First of all… sorry it’s been a little while! I actually have a very legitimate excuse VIRUSES took over my computer… therefore no internet for a little while. BUT I’M BACK

Friday – Quite honestly we’ve had some pretty stressful weeks, months, whatever so I desperately tried to make an effort for us to have a little fun time this weekend… started with Friday night. Went over to Brian and Crystal’s for ribs and games… Lots of fun… still didn’t kick anyone’s butt like I had planned but oh well…

Saturday – Daniel went down to the JP property to get some work done on the barn… it’s getting COLD down there and pretty sure we’re going to lose our teens and adults (myself included) if it gets much colder in there on Wednesday nights! So hopefully the barn’s a little more insulated now…

I worked on a million little projects around the house. We’ve been so busy lately, haven’t had much time to get anything done… worked on pulling together a lot more items for our adoption yard sale. I have NO idea what I’m going to do with all of this stuff until the Spring! haha

After Daniel came home from the work day, we went to see Stepfather… pretty good. Then walked around Sam’s for a minute to see what samples they had… haha Spent the rest of the evening cooking dinner and chilling out.

Sunday – great service at JP… then I whisked Daniel off to the Fernbank Museum. Bank of America is doing this really neat thing right now… free admission for check-card holders the first weekend of every month at several area museums/attractions. It’s running up soon and I’ve been trying to cram in all of these museums before it does… so this month… Fernbank. Couldn’t go Saturday so I made Daniel go Sunday! haha Pretty sure he didn’t mind and we definitely needed some “us” time. It was pretty cool… definitely different from the one in New York, but LOVED the IMAX. It was a wild safari through South Africa… definitely want a baby elephant!

Anyways… weekend went by WAY TOO FAST! Of course…

I’m SOOO saddened and downright angry about something and I just need to get it out!

Did you know that…

• there are 27 million slaves in the world TODAY
• $90 is the average cost of a human slave around the world
• it is estimated that 200,000 AMERICAN children are at high risk for trafficking into the sex trade industry each year
• modern day slavery is the second largest criminal industry in the world
• there have been instances of children as young as 6 years old being kidnapped into the sex trade industry and made to “service” 20+ men a night

Now for those of you who don’t think this is happening in our country, State, city (like it should matter)…

• Atlanta has more strip clubs per capita than Las Vegas
• 80% of adult prostitutes begin between ages 12-14
• 1 in 3 women in the general population are victims of childhood sexual abuse– this number is usually higher for women in the Adult Entertainment Industry
• In the state of Georgia alone, approximately 250 girls are recruited into prostitution on a monthly basis. There are over 4,000 strippers who work in the 40 adult entertainment clubs in and around the Atlanta area and statistics show there is a clear link between pornography, exotic dancing and prostitution.
• #1 site for prostitution is Craigslist
• The prices for erotic services on Craigslist are measured in “roses”
• When the mayor wrote Craigslist about this problem, they simply said, “We’re only responding to demand.”
• After much complaining, there is now a statement about GA laws and a link to the APD on the Craigslist erotic services pages but victims are STILL BEING BOUGHT AND SOLD on the site
• When Atlanta raised the ordinance so that women under 21 could not get their dancing permit, it took 2600 girls off the stage
• Atlanta will become the 48th city in the United States to start a “John School” — a school for first offenders to realize the effects of prostitution related activities
• The Shapiro Group, in conjunction with the Juvenile Justice Fund, estimates that when a young girl is dressed provocatively, she is assumed to be 8 years older than she actually is– this leads many men to believe they are buying services (sex, lap dances, erotic services in general) from a legal woman, when in reality, she may be a child.
• When surveying Atlanta for areas of prostitution and trafficking, the Shapiro group has found that where strip clubs and hotels meet, illicit sexual activity is usually happening– researchers sat in major hotels and watched the traffic from the strip clubs into the hotels
• Out of 500 escort phone numbers, 85% go to 3 main call centers– this shows there are 3 main escort services that are trying to have the appearance of many different businesses. There is a organized nature to trafficking and sexual exploitation
• There are 400-500 listings for erotic services/day on Craigslist
• Prostitution as a symptom—the victims are not running to the street, they are running from their homes.
• 75% of minors are controlled by a pimp
• There are more domestic minor sex trafficking victims in the US than international victims in the US
• Approximately 1.7 million runaway/throwaway episodes occur every year in the U.S., and 90% of runaways become a part of the sex trade industry. This recruitment doesn’t take much time or effort; 1 in 3 teens will be lured toward prostitution within 48 hours of leaving home.

If your heart can stand it, check out this story… This just breaks my heart and makes me realize, more than ever, that what I perceive as HUGE problems in my life are so inconsequential!

I’m ashamed… when I’m worried about escalating gas prices, whether I’ll be able to sleep in, or that all of my cars might not pass emissions… when TRULY horrendous things are going on all around me. My priorities are all screwed up!

Most of this information was taken from a very cool blog, aimed at educating the public about this pandemic… www.mckennah.blogspot.com Make sure to add her to your list of blogs…

WE SURVIVED the spooky weekend! haah

Our scary movie night for Fusion was so much fun. Pretty sure I heard the guys screaming more than the girls, tho… thought that was interesting! haha

Afterwards Crystal dragged us to see Paranormal Activity. I became just a little panicky when the ticket chick asked me a series of medical condition questions before she would give me the tickets, such as do you have any heart conditions, panic disorders, etc. That made me just a little nervous to see the movie.

But after all was said and done, it wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be. I was a big girl except for the last two minutes which I watched through my t-shirt because I couldn’t handle the full-effect! haha Pretty cool movie though…

Saturday… since we decided to do a little fire-truck chasing at 2:30 in the morning after the movie, and then had to watch about an hour of funny tv to cleanse the demon images from my head… we slept in until 11:00! After we wasted half the day sleeping, I got my hair cut, Daniel got a new garage door opener, and we did our weekly Publix shopping trip Which by the way… I have enough fabric softener and detergent to last me for about a year! haha

Met up with Brian and Crystal for the McDonough Haunted History Tour of the square… very much fun. More history than haunted, but pretty cool. Think we’re going to plan a private tour with the teenagers sometime. Then had our first experience with Thai food. YUM!! Will definitely go back…

Sunday… Daniel led Kids Church. He’s so good with them, it just baffles me! He’s definitely got a gift when it comes to communicating. So proud of him! Then the church recognized us for Pastor Appreciation month… so weren’t expecting that

We ate Mexican again which of course meant I had to take a 20 minute nap Sunday afternoon… Daniel watched football and forced himself NOT to watch the Yankees game… said it would be too stressful! haha However he did wake up at midnight and watch the end of the game! haha Go Yankees…

Well that’s about it for the weekend

Lots of fun going on this weekend…

Tonight – scary movie night in the spooky JP field with the teens. We’re projecting a scary movie on the side of the barn in the completely dark 10 acre field. Mwwwahhhh! AND Crystal’s even coming! So proud

Late night – after the scary outdoor movie, Crystal’s convinced us to go watch Paranormal Activity. I have NO idea how this happened… I love a great scary movie, but ghost stuff FREAKS me out. So I’m pretty sure I’ll never sleep with the lights off again after tonight, but oh well. Should be fun! I’m planning on staying up watching Horton Hears a Who until daylight

Saturday – since we’ll be up all night, fully intending on sleeping pretty late. I’ll let you know whether that happens or not! haha Daniel doesn’t know it yet, but I’m planning on cleaning the garage out tomorrow… haah Then we’re meeting up with Brian and Crystal to do the McDonough Haunted Walking Tour. Really looking forward to it! Supposedly the square’s SUPER haunted, so that should be fun, especially since Crystal and Caleb (who live right outside of the square) have seen ghosts in their house before! AGHGHG

Sunday – KIDS CHURCH! Yeap, of course since Daniel and I have Kids Church Sunday, the band is doing one of my most favorite songs of all time (You Hold Me Now – Hillsong United)! Oh well… guess that’s my luck! haha Sunday afternoon, I’m sure Daniel will watch football and I’ve got a lot of reading to do, so we’ll see…

Have a great weekend everybody!

I know some of ya’ll don’t care about this kinda stuff AT ALL… but I’ve just gotta share! These are some of the deals I got this week…

• Marie Callendar frozen meals… 75 cents
• Pancake Syrup – 10 cents
• Garlic bread, mozzarella sticks, etc. – 90 cents
• Pasta – 40 cents
• Snuggle fabric softener – FREE
• coffee creamer (good stuff) – 88 cents
• bread crumbs – 42 cents
• fruit snacks – 55 cents
• taco seasoning packets – 35 cents
• cheese puffs – 50 cents
• cat litter (20 pounds) – $2.85
• maybelline mascara – $3.89 (for the $12 kinda)
• Glade candles – 19 cents

Yeah so all in all I got $180 worth of groceries for $60!! You should see Daniel and me huddled around the cash register watching our total keep going down, down, down… feel like such a good steward of our grocery money!

In the process of my major cleaning day Saturday, I decided I was not content to stare at Daniel’s mountains of clothing anymore! I took a stand… and before you freak out, I didn’t throw ANYTHING away (except for a pair of flip-flops the dog had eaten)!!

His clothes had taken over our very large closet, his chest of drawers, the guest bedroom chest of drawers, and pretty much the whole guest bedroom. I’m pretty sure he’s kept every shred of clothing since high school and ya’ll know the boy loves to shop. So his once piles of clothes turned into a mountain range stretching half-way through our house.

Anyways… since I’m such a sweet wife and KNOW how busy he is and how LOW a priority this mountain range is to him, I decided to take action! For his benefit, of course

After it was all said and done, I had folded 114 T-SHIRTS (this did NOT include what he was wearing, what was dirty or being washed or any other type of shirt). I didn’t count any other type of clothing, but suffice it to say, he took up his whole side of the closet (10 feet of hanging space), two chest of drawers, and half of the guest bed. The boy could literally clothe someone for at least a year without having to wash anything! That’s just a little excessive if you ask me…

So I’m thinking next Sunday while he’s watching football, I’m going to bring him manageable piles to go through! haha Hopefully we’ll get some great donations for our adoption yard sale out of his closet!

If you’re part of the JP family, you know Jay challenged us with giving up something for 7 days and spending that amount of time in prayer! So what did I decide to give up?

Well… considering either facebook hates me or ALL of my facebook friends decided to delete me from their friends list since ALL of my friends have been deleted… I decided I would fast from facebook this week. Kinda embarrassed to tell you, but it’s not uncommon that I could kill an hour a day on facebook! That’s just ridiculous… no wonder I’m not reading anymore.

So well… decided to spend my facebook time in prayer. Who knows? Maybe it’ll stick and I’ll better prioritize my time! I’ll let you know how it goes…

Yeap yeap… it’s Monday! Here’s what I was up to this weekend…

Friday – went out for Mexican to catch up with the in-laws, then off to hang out at Starbucks with some pretty cool people , then off to Publix to get $180 worth of groceries for $60!! YAY

Saturday – Daniel had to work (BOO) but then scored tickets to the Ga Tech/Va Tech game so that meant I had the house to myself ALL DAY!!! It’s been a long time since I’ve had any “alone” time so I was pretty thrilled Managed to clean the whole house (well except two rooms that I’m piling stuff in for our yard sale next year) and catch up on some DVR-watching.

Sunday – Great day at JPC, then off to the new Mexican place near church for lunch… then Daniel and I BOTH took a nap. You know Daniel’s wiped out when he actually takes a nap, had my tail kicked in Rummikub, and then I made a yummy dinner. Yeap I said I made it… ya’ll know I’m a spoiled woman… hardly ever cook, but apparently I haven’t forgotten! haha

Happy Monday everyone!

So so so proud of Catalyst Conference (HUGE church leadership conference taking place here in ATL last week)!

During the conference with over 13,000 church leaders from around the world in attendance, adoption was given a MAJOR spotlight! Simply put they challenged CHRISTIANS to lead the charge in taking care of the 143 million!!!!!! orphans around the world. They even pushed the agency we’re using So glad we’re already on the waiting list… sounds like it will be getting a little crowded YAY

So… whip out your tissues and check out www.143million.org Watch the video towards the right side of the screen… it’s the video with the picture of the two little boys. Fair warning… I balled but maybe because I’m just a little sensitive about adopting Korean babies since I’m DESPERATELY BEGGING God for my own little Los Whittaker (he’s the Korean boy in the video adopted by Carlos and Heather Whittaker)…

And since you’re all asking… we’re still waiting until Bethany gets their list next Spring to find out whether we’re given one of the spots or not. In the meantime, we’re trying to figure out how to raise money. If you’ve got a couple hundred extra dollars laying around collecting dust, feel free to buy us passports if you’d like! haha www.meadadoption.com

Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans… Isa. 1:17