How I Plan My Grocery Shopping

I've had a grocery shopping system going for the past several months now, and I find that it works very well for our family. Before I implemented this system, I shopped rather blindly. I would keep a list of whatever we were running out of from our pantry and fridge, but there wasn't much thought involved beyond that. When I got to the grocery store, I would shop based on my short list, and whatever looked good. I would get ideas for possible dinners as I browsed the aisles.

This was not good.
The result of this thoughtless practice was that we often ended up with food that would never get eaten, and was eventually tossed out.

This also was not good.

I don't like being wasteful. Actually, it KILLS me to throw out food. Often I will eat leftovers of the same meal for days on end, because Brandon sometimes won't eat leftovers, and I hate to see food go to waste. Occasionally, if I too am tired of the leftovers, I will give the food to the pets and feel not-so-bad about it, because they seem so very grateful to receive human food.

Anyways. I needed to find a system that worked better for us, one which would involve more conscious effort but would produce better results.

It actually wasn't that difficult. Sometimes I complicate things by trying to find a method online that works for someone else, and then I attempt to fit myself to its mold, and I realize that it's just not my style.

In this case, however, I went by instinct.

I knew the first step would be to make a menu plan for the week. The problem was, I wasn't very creative at coming up with meals for the whole week. I could think of maybe three recipes that I hadn't used last week, but beyond that I was drawing a blank. So I went back a step further (if Step One was to make a menu plan, I guess I was going to Step Zero?). I made a list of all the meals we eat regularly, and I was able to come up with a good amount. I sorted them by main meat ingredient: Beef, Chicken, or Other.

Now I could get to the good stuff.

I hand-drew a grid, with Breakfast / Lunch / Snack / Dinner as the column headings across the top, and the days of the week as the row headings down the bottom. Some people don't need to plan out each day's breakfast, lunch, and snacks, but I like having it all planned out for me. I consulted the weekly grocery ads to determine what was on sale, and keeping that in mind, I filled in my grid.

Oh, how pretty!

It makes me happy to complete my menu grid. Don't laugh at me.

Next, I checked my pantry and fridge to see what we had and what we needed (according to the menu grid!), and made the grocery list accordingly.

Something else you may possibly laugh at me about: I get quite specific in my grocery list-making. I have to make categories of Cold, Meat, Dry, Frozen, and Produce in order to keep up with everything. If I don't do it this way, I end up accidentally skipping the orange juice or something and having to go all the way to the back of the store to get it - with a full cart and, usually by this point, a whiny toddler.

My current list-making method isn't perfect, either. The "Dry" section - basically all of the internal grocery aisles - is quite a large section and sometimes I still skip over things. But I'm getting better.

Plus, as you can see from the picture above, I tend to get a little lazy near the end of the grid. The whole menu plan is flexible, but weekends especially are, because sometimes I don't know our plans until the last minute. Consequently (and as a result of the aforementioned lack of creativity), I often leave out most of the weekend's menu plan.

And that's the way I do it! All the drawn-out explaining might have made it seem complicated, but it's not. Three steps (and one is optional!): 1- Consult ads (optional!) 2- Make menu grid  3- Make grocery list, checking pantry if unsure whether we have something. Then go shopping.

That works for me!

The In"sssssss"ident

AKA The Snake Incident
(This story is best read in a dark room, where the reader's face is illuminated by a flashlight. Dramatic inflections are an added bonus.)

It was a windy, cloudy April day like any other. Brandon, Asher, and I had just returned home to Somerset after being in Campbellsville for school most of the day. We didn't want to head home and get comfortable, only to get back out again to take my brother Nick to his baseball scrimmage, so we decided to spend some time at the library before we headed over to pick Nick up.  *DUN DUN*

Our time at the library passed uneventfully, and we headed out to the car, when the children's garden caught my eye. We had never taken Asher to the garden, and we had a little more time to spare, so I suggested we take him over for a romp in the garden. Little did I know what would await us there...

Asher stayed on the sidewalks like a good little boy for approximately 5.2 seconds. Pretty soon, he was wandering off the path, into the grass and up the small hill. I positioned myself on the bench next to the hill to watch the event which was about to unfold. *DUN DUN DUNNN*

My boy tripped, and I leaned over the rail to help him, when I noticed a slight movement in the grass. I immediately recognized that it was a snake and, after panicking for half a second, I bolted over the rail, risking life and limb to save my boy from the disaster which surely awaited him. No big deal or boasting here though, it was mommy instinct.

After ensuring that we were both unscathed - and I ENSURED that we were okay, checking and re-checking Asher's legs where surely the snake must have bitten him, he was so close (and you know the saying, "If it was a snake it would've bit ya") - I proceeded to freak out. I staunchly declared that I was never again taking Asher to the Children's Garden. Brandon followed the snake around for a few minutes, watching it as it slithered under leaves and out of sight. He considered picking it up, but I screamed bloody poisonous snake, and ran away with Asher. Brandon managed to take some pictures and a video while I was having a panic attack.



Turns out it was just a garter/garden (?) snake. I figured that when I saw it; I didn't really think it was venomous, but a snake is a snake, and if it had bitten one of us, I'd say the bite would hurt either way.

And then we brought Asher back the next week. :) This time, I made sure he stayed on the sidewalks. However, Brandon did find a snake skin in the same vicinity that we saw the snake the week before.

Beware, ye partakers of garden goodness. There is garden badness too, of the ancient variety.

Spring Things

Before writing my previous post, I realized that I had not blogged in a long while. Life has been busy, y’all. I’m so grateful for a time now that I can slow down in my everyday life – well, as much as you can with an active toddler – and not have schoolwork or a crazy schedule and multiple long car trips each week. Now, I can focus on taking care of my husband and son, keeping my home in order, planning and cooking nutritious meals, and other various interests. 

To catch you all up, here are a few things that have been going on in our lives these past several months:

Asher got his first haircut soon after his first birthday.

Before                                            After

We practiced baseball in the front yard, way before baseball season started. Woody is very enthusiastic about playing, as you can tell.

Speaking of baseball, my brother Nick has recently started his baseball season. 

He plays for the Braves in our town's kids baseball league.

We like to watch, but as long as Nick's not at-bat, it's fair game for us to play something of our own, like roll the ball with Asher's Aunt Kourtney and cousin Westin! 

We enjoyed our Easter, and Asher had his first egg hunt:

We had some interesting encounters at the children's garden at the library:

and some fun too: 

 

We have also done some more geocaching around town, which I will write about more later.

Also, Hallelujah! We graduated!

This compares our high school graduation with our college graduation. I don't think my appearance has changed much, but Brandon's has!

I'm so happy to be finished with my degree, but at the same time, our graduation means that we will not be seeing our friend Grace as often. 

I met Grace through a mutual friend of ours (shoutout to Katy!) when I was looking for a babysitter for Asher at the beginning of the fall semester of school. She has been a wonderful babysitter, but more importantly, our friendship has developed and she has become a very dear friend to me, and to Brandon also. We are so thankful for her and her family: they love the Lord so much and it is evident in everything they do! It was quite hard to leave the last time she babysat Asher, but we left knowing that we have gained a true friend and we will hopefully see her and her husband and son often, whether through Skype or in real life. 

Asher and I are gearing up for a fun summer, now that school is out of the way. We bought season passes to the water park, we have a calendar of events for the summer reading program at the library, there are lots of baseball games to attend, and my sister Lauren is graduating from high school in a few weeks, so we will be going up to stay a few days with my dad and family around that time.

(My youngest sister Kerry, Me and Asher, and Lauren at my graduation)

Additionally, we have other small things to keep us occupied. Actually, I have compiled a list of things I want to do "When I have more time", such as crocheting, learn to sew (I'd love to learn how to make a t-shirt quilt), grow a vegetable garden, spend lots of time outside, blog, do more geocaching, visit family, and restart my preteen girls' ministry group. 

Looks like it'll be a fun summer - as long as we don't overschedule the fun! :)

Until next time!

Gencie 

Thoughts on the End of an Era

This past Saturday, my college career came to an end. After years of anticipation, I walked the line between being an undergraduate student and being a college graduate. I now hold in my hand (figuratively... we won't get our degrees for a few weeks) a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology. This "key" to life as an adult, this goal that so many dream of and work for and strive after, is now realized in my life.

photo credit

And what difference has it made?

What lessons have I learned from four years of advanced academia? How will my life now be any different from someone who never had the opportunity or desire to go to college? What difference does a degree make?

I can't speak for everyone, of course. What I have experienced is personal to me, and even my husband Brandon, who has walked this path beside me, will have something different to say, a different lesson he has learned from his experiences.

But here are a few things Campbellsville University has taught me:



1) To value diverse perspectives.
A university is a place full of ideas. During my time as a student at Campbellsville, I came up against many that I disagreed with: some in the theology department (my area of study for my minor), and also a few in the psychology department (my major). At first, when I bumped up against these ideas, I balked. I stuck my fingers in my ears and taunted, "I can't hear you! You're stupid!" But then I realized that these new-to-me ideas weren't plucked from thin air - people had thought hard about this and studied and searched the scriptures and prayed and came to a conclusion about it, and I would be arrogant to flippantly dismiss them because they at first repulsed me.

I considered these diverse opinions and did much research outside of class in order to draw my own conclusions. On some occasions, I changed my position on the issue. Other times, my original opinion was strengthened because I had seen both sides of the issue, and after analyzing both sides, I believed it to be a better interpretation of the facts and/or the Bible.

I am sometimes prone to believe my stance on particular issues is the best, but my experiences at CU have taught me to have an open mind to arguments which have biblical support.

Additionally, I have made friends with people who disagree with me on basically the whole spectrum of theological issues, yet I have been able to love them and see their love for the Lord and appreciate their friendship in spite of our differences. Denominational lines and doctrinal issues should not keep brothers and sisters from loving one another and being in fellowship.

2) I like to write.
You might not have been able to guess it while I was taking classes, but I do actually enjoy writing; particularly if I have something to respond to, such as an article or a certain idea. It's harder for me to choose a topic and write whatever I think about it, such as with blogging. Occasionally, when I finished a class, I would go back and read some of the papers I had written because I was proud of how articulate I can sometimes be with written language. I maintain my humility, however, making up for my decent writing with deplorable oral communication.

Now that I'm finished with college, I might perhaps get more into writing for pleasure. Maybe I will even try out some different genres, like poetry or fiction.

3) I am an unfinished work.
Having a degree does not mean that I am finished with learning. I will never be finished learning. The Lord has much work to do in and through me, and I will use my life to serve Him through gaining, applying, and sharing knowledge and wisdom with those I encounter.

Philippians 1:6 says "And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." Some days, that work leading to completion seems to be especially slow-going, but I know that the Lord will not give up on me.

On your First Birthday, Asher...

Dear Asher,

We celebrated your first birthday yesterday with a big party. Since you so love Piggy Back Rides and playing Giddy Up Horsey, we decided to go with a Cowboy theme. I think it suited you very nicely.

Daddy used some decorations from the feed store, and he made some also: that reclaimed pallet was a great success (I envy your dad's creativity - and pray that it passes on to you!).

Miss Grace made your birthday cake, and it was so cool, and it tasted delicious! Your outfit was fitting for the occasion (overalls and a cowboy hat) and you played your part by ringing that cowbell very loudly.

Many of our family and friends got to come together to show you some love and celebrate your life so far. One of my favorite moments was the prayer time when we prayed blessings on you.

You've grown so much over this past year, my son, and I can't believe how quickly the time has flown. I'm very proud of you. You are a happy-hearted boy, full of laughter and fun-loving. You are sensitive, and that is a wonderful quality in a young man. You are a momma's boy, and as I prayed yesterday at your party, I pray also today that, in the same way that you cling to me now, you may one day cling tightly to God, putting allegiance to him over all else. You are also stubborn, and while it irks me now, I pray that you will one day use that tenacity to stubbornly defend the Truth. 

My most important prayer for you though, Asher, is that salvation would spring up within you, that you may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. Your dad and I pray every day that the Lord would draw you unto himself, and that you would sincerely repent of your sin at a young age and follow the Lord wholeheartedly for all of your life. 

I'm thankful to God for giving us this year with you, and I look forward to celebrating many more. I love you, baby boy!