The Stabler Family

50 Free Holiday Cards!

2010-11-30T18:26:00.000-08:00

Shutterfly has an awesome promotion for the 2010 holiday season. All you have to do is blog about your favorite holiday cards from their website, and they'll send you a promo code for 50 free holiday cards!

Here are a couple of my favorite holiday cards...

My personal preference of card is a 5x7 flat card with 1 picture. But the great thing about Shutterfly is there are so many different options to choose from!

They also have these really cute desk calendars that would make for a great Christmas present...

Or how about turning a favorite photo into a special gift for someone? You can do that with Shutterfly's canvas wall art!

Every year since we've been married, I've wanted to send out Christmas cards, but with all the other expenses of buying Christmas presents for everyone I just can never bring myself to spend the money on them. Well, this year I have no reason not to send out Christmas cards! And you can too! Click on this link to find out how... http://bit.ly/sfly2010

And be sure to share this promotion on Facebook or Twitter!

Paint Colors??

2010-11-19T07:43:00.000-08:00

This is the adorable, classic bedding that will be the theme for our baby's nursery...

but I need some help!! I'm not sure what color(s) to paint the nursery. One of the pictures from the website shows the bedding with a nursery painted the same celery green color as the bedding, but I'm not sure that I want that much green. I've tossed around different ideas, the latest one being to paint one wall with either vertical or horizontal stripes to make it a "focal point". But I'm still not sure what colors to go with! Any advice from my fellow bloggers and friends would be much appreciated! :)

22 Week Update

2010-11-12T06:40:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to do a quick update for those of you that haven't heard already...

IT'S A BOY!!!

His name will be Cameron Reese Stabler. I can hardly believe that we only have about 4 months left until we meet our precious baby boy!

15 Week Update

2010-09-20T13:46:00.000-07:00

I feel terrible that I said I was going to start blogging regularly, and now here I am, TWO MONTHS LATER, writing this post! But to tell you the truth, there just hasn't really been that much going on in my pregnancy to update you about. I have had a WONDERFUL pregnancy so far! The only symptoms I experienced in the beginning weeks of pregnancy were breast tenderness, extreme tiredness, and a handful of times when I was mildly nauseated. That's it! And all of those symptoms have been gone for about a month now, maybe even a little longer. Thomas went to the doctor with me last Monday and we got to hear the baby's heartbeat, which was a HUGE relief for me after going for sooo long without any pregnancy symptoms. We go for our next ultrasound on October 25th, which is when we'll find out what we're having!

EXCITING NEWS!

2010-07-14T10:57:00.000-07:00

I'M PREGNANT!!!

I'm six weeks along as of today.

I had my first ultrasound yesterday and got to see the baby's heartbeat :) It just looked like a little flicker on the screen, but it's amazing to think that there's a little life inside of me.

I'm so excited because I feel like I have something to blog about now, haha! Not that my life was boring before, but there just wasn't that much going on what with us trying to pay off our debt and all. And speaking of paying off our debt, we are scheduled to have everything paid off (except the mortgage) around the first couple weeks of September. I will be sooo glad because this is a BIG area of stress for me right now! I'm trying to have faith that God will take care of us and will work everything out so that we'll be financially prepared for this baby.

So starting now, I'm going to be updating this blog REGULARLY!

Upcoming CSN Stores Review!

2010-06-28T14:20:00.000-07:00

I am so excited to be given the opportunity to review ANOTHER product from CSN Stores! I'm still trying to decide what I want to review...it's so hard to choose seeing as their selection is HUGE! Anything ranging from headboards to shoes to car seats - even designer cat litterboxes!

Hmmm...I wonder what I'll choose to review...stay tuned to find out!

WINNER CSN Stores giveaway!

2010-05-10T18:53:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to comment #16!

Tj and Amy said...

I follow your blog. via google friend connect. amypugmire@live.com
#1

April 27, 2010 2:18 PM

I have emailed you and you have 48 hours to contact me and claim your prize!

THANKS SO MUCH TO ALL OF YOU WHO ENTERED MY GIVEAWAY!

{CSN Stores} Review & Giveaway!

2010-04-23T10:16:00.000-07:00

CSN Stores presented me with an opportunity to review an item of my choice. I chose this Paula Deen 9"x9" Stoneware Baker in green. I have a lot of Corningware and Pyrex casserole dishes, but I've always wanted a stoneware casserole dish. Here are some of the features that I like about this dish:

~ Crafted in a unique swirl pattern
~ Designed for oven, microwave, and refrigerator use
~ The durable, textured stoneware is uniquely glazed so that no two pieces are alike
~ Ideal for prepping, backing, serving, and reheating
~ Dishwasher safe and oven safe to 500°F

I used it for the first time last night and made Poppyseed Chicken Casserole. What I love about stoneware is that it cooks everything evenly, and I noticed that with this baker. My casserole was just as hot on the bottom as it was on the top. I also loved that it retained the heat longer than my other casserole dishes do. We went back for seconds about 10 or 15 minutes later and the casserole was still steaming and hot!

Here's a closeup shot of the detailing on the sides of the dish...

CSN Stores is offering one of YOU the chance to win the same Paula Deen Stoneware Baker that I reviewed!

How to enter: Leave comments below with your qualifying entries. Leave a separate comment for each entry telling me which one you qualify for.

MANDATORY 1st entry - Please visit CSN Stores and tell me what other product you would like to own.

Extra entries:

5 entries - Blog about this giveaway including a link back to this post {leave a link to your post in your comment}
3 entries- Follow The Stabler Family via Google Friend Connect
2 entries-Follow CSN Stores on Facebook
2 entries - Update your Facebook status telling others about this giveaway
1 entry- Follow Me on Twitter {include your Twitter ID}
1 entry- Follow CSN Stores on Twitter {include your Twitter ID}

1 entry- Tweet about this giveaway {leave a link to your tweet in your comment}

You have until May 8th @ 11:59 p.m. CST to enter this giveaway. The winner will be chosen by random.org and announced here. If the winner has provided an email address I will contact you. If you don't provide your email, you will want to check back here and see if you are the winner. The winner will have 48 hours to contact me or a new winner will be chosen. You must be 18 years or older and live in the USA to enter.

Thank you so much CSN Stores for providing this product for my review and giveaway. This review is my personal opinion and I was not paid to write this review. These opinions are 100% my own.

Upcoming Review & Giveaway!!!

2010-03-30T13:06:00.000-07:00

As most of you know, Thomas and I are working really hard to get all of our debt paid off this year (minus the house, of course). We are on schedule to have everything paid off around the end of July or beginning of August, and one of the first things we plan to do is get new living room furniture! I already have the couches picked out :) So now I'm looking for the perfect entertainment center that will complete our living room. Enter racksandstands.com. This website is just one of more than 200 different shopping sites that you'll find on csnstores.com. They have a HUGE selection of entertainment centers with all sorts of styles and finishes. You can pretty much find anything your heart desires on this website! CSN's product categories cover everything from cookware, ultra modern furniture, bunk bed-office combinations and fitness equipment to grills, greenhouses and much more.

Are you ready for some exciting news??!! CSN has contacted me and offered me the chance to review one of their products! But the best part is that one of YOU will get a chance to win the same product that I review!! So make sure you check back here within the next couple of weeks for your chance to win!!

Kitchen Design Dilemma

2010-02-02T18:50:00.001-08:00

I know I say this all the time, but I really want to get better at this whole blogging thing! I promise! It's just that there's not a whole lot of exciting stuff going on in our lives right now...just working and saving to get our debt paid off.

I do a lot of daydreaming on what I would LOVE for our kitchen to look like one day. We are planning on doing a full remodel some day, but that could be years from now. Hopefully later on this year (after the debt is paid off) we will be able to make some fairly inexpensive changes to the kitchen - paint, new hardware, new light fixtures, etc. I'm going to show you some pictures of what it looks like now, and feel free to make suggestions!

View after walking in from the carport...I really don't like that the stove is right next to the door, and I don't know where/if we'll eventually move it one day. We want to eventually replace the tile...I don't care for the diagonal pattern and the color is too light.

Would really love to get stainless steel or black appliances one day...

Definitely going to paint over the wood paneling...and get new dining room set!

So there's our kitchen! We really haven't changed anything since we moved in...and yes, it's been almost 4 years since we bought the house! But you'd be amazed at how quickly things can rack up on a Home Depot credit card...we had to cease all home improvements until the card is paid off and we can pay cash for it!

Boys Like Girls - Thunder

2010-02-02T15:31:00.000-08:00

The Last Song

2009-12-14T20:04:00.000-08:00

I'm really excited about this movie! I love Nicholas Sparks and am in the process of reading all of his books. I finished The Last Song a couple of weeks ago, and it was a great book!

FREE Sister Schubert's!

2009-12-07T08:30:00.001-08:00

I received a coupon in the mail a few days ago for a FREE Sister Schubert's product (up to a $4.00 value)! I was sooo excited! I just love the dinner yeast rolls...they taste just like they're homemade!

All you need to do to receive this coupon is go to the website HERE and fill out the form telling them how much you love their products. I will tell you that it took a few weeks to receive my coupon. But I just had to let you all know about this because we all love free stuff, right?!

Helen Marie Gray

2009-12-01T19:55:00.001-08:00

We will miss her so much! Click on the Gray family button on the right sidebar to be taken to a Facebook page that has been set up for donations. And continue to pray for Kristy, who is still in the hospital awaiting surgery.

Tabeez

2009-11-18T09:51:00.000-08:00

I won a $25 giftcard to tabeez.com from Just for me & you! I decided to get the Basic Stretch Pencil Skirt...

I've won some great giveaways lately! Don't forget to become a follower of Giveaways Galore and stay up to date on the latest giveaways. You could be a winner too!

Ritzy Misfit necklace

2009-11-17T10:39:00.000-08:00

My necklace came in!!! Isn't it the cutest thing?

Use Swagbucks to coupon!

2009-11-17T09:37:00.000-08:00

I used my swagbucks today to get a 6 month subscription to All You magazine!

I'm trying to get back into couponing, and this magazine is full of great coupons I can use. All I did was redeem my swagbucks for 2 Amazon $5 e-giftcards (45 swagbucks each), then ordered the magazine from amazon.com. Amazon doesn't charge shipping and handling for magazines, so I didn't have to pay ANYTHING!

If you haven't signed up for Swagbucks, what are you waiting for?! It's absolutely free!

Click HERE sign up!

Yay for new followers!

2009-11-16T14:36:00.001-08:00

I just wanted to write a quick post to say thank you to those of you who decided to follow my blog even though I don't know you personally. It really means a lot to me and it gives me more incentive to keep on blogging :)

THANK YOU!!!

New Giveaway Blog!

2009-11-10T08:43:00.000-08:00

I loved Jenny's idea of having a blog dedicated entirely to giveaways, so I decided to make one as well! Giveaways are my latest addiction and I find a new giveaway blog just about everyday. Blogging about a giveaway usually gets you an extra entry, but I just didn't want to "clutter" this blog with a bunch of posts about giveaways. So now I have a blog where I can post about giveaways (and get myself an extra entry) and have buttons that link to some awesome giveaway blogs!

Click here to visit my new giveaway blog and become a follower if you want to stay up to date on the latest giveaways!

Yard Sale!

2009-11-05T07:27:00.000-08:00

Me, my mom, my aunt, and some others will be doing a yard sale tomorrow (Friday) and Saturday in Millbrook. The address is 3300 Grandview Drive - it's the white house with orange and black shutters at the "5-way stop" close to the park and the library. You can't miss it. We've been having yard sales there for years and it's such a great spot with a lot of traffic coming through. I'm hoping we'll sell alot and get some extra money to put towards our debt! Oh, and thanks for your encouraging comments to my last post...they made my day!

A New Theme

2009-11-04T13:45:00.000-08:00

As you can see from my header, I've decided on a theme for my blog......

LIVING LIKE NO ONE ELSE

You may recognize the phrase from the very popular financial guru Dave Ramsey (are you shocked that I picked this as a theme?). This phrase sums up where Thomas and I are at in our lives right now. Living like no one else is a good thing to do financially, but it's a VERY hard thing to do. So I want to blog about our journey toward becoming debt-free, and hopefully I will encourage others to want to become debt-free as well. And for those of you who are currently "living like no one else" - know that you are not alone!!! I feel that way sometimes, and it's just nice to know that I'm really not the only one. So leave me a comment and show me some love!

I'm not completely done with the makeover yet. I would oh-so-love to have one of those talented blog designers give my blog the makeover it needs, but paying someone $50-$75 to do so would be kind of hypocritical to my new theme, don'tcha think? So I'm using a free online scrapbooking website to create my header. So check back often and let me know if you have any ideas or know of any resources for blog design that are FREE.

I won TWO giveaways today!

2009-10-23T11:45:00.001-07:00

I can't believe it! I wish this streak of luck would carry over to our vehicles, haha! (We just found out that we need a new transmission in our 2002 Ford Explorer that we bought LAST MONTH! argh...) So you wanna see what I won?

A $25 shopping spree to Kayte Bug Boutique!

I won this giveaway from Fabulous Fun Finds. These are just some of the things on the website. I can't decide what I should get! I think I may get one of those cute diaper bags and put it away for later :)

********************

The second giveaway I won is a wax seal pendant necklace from Ritzy Misfit!

I found out that they started becoming really popular when Jillian from The Bachelorette wore one. I won this giveaway from A Giveaway Everyday.

Check out all the buttons on the right side of my blog to see where these fabulous giveaways are happening everyday!

I won a giveaway!

2009-10-13T11:13:00.000-07:00

Finally! I've been entering multiple giveaways everyday and was so excited when I got an email this morning telling me that I won this...

Softlips PURE - it's a line of premium organic lip conditioners designed with skin conditioning ingredients to help keep lips soft, supple, and healthy. The product line also contains no animal by-products and is not tested on animals. The Softlips PURE lip conditioners are mounted on recyclable packaging that is printed with vegetable based ink. They're are also conveniently packaged in a sleek, sophisticated slim stick to allow women to easily tuck them into purses and pockets.

The site I won this from is Fiesty, Frugal, & Fabulous. It's run by a stay-at-home mom named Tenille, and she has a giveaway pretty much everyday. I have her button on the right side of my blog. So go check it out! Maybe you'll get lucky too :)

E-Mealz

2009-09-11T13:31:00.000-07:00

My friend Alecia recently told me about a website called E-Mealz. So, I had to check it out. I love the fact that Dave Ramsey promotes the site. And I love the fact that it is only $5 a month. So I signed up! I really think this will solve alot of my problems when it comes to cooking, grocery shopping, and meal planning. There are different plans you can choose from - I chose the Wal-Mart meal plan for two. My meal plans are posted every Friday. I get an aisle-by-aisle shopping list and instructions on how to prepare each meal, and it lists the price of each item and the total amount at the end. I have printed off 3 weeks worth of meals, and so far each week has me spending about $40. So this should really help to cut costs in our budget. I hate to admit that we've been slacking off during the last few months, and I really want to get back in the game of paying off our debt by squeezing every little dollar out of our budget that we can. And it starts with a commitment to eat at home more using the help of E-Mealz!

Click on this referral link for more info....

Aloha!

2009-08-13T10:35:00.000-07:00

Some exciting things have been happening for Thomas & I. One of them being a trip to Hawaii! The company that Thomas works for owns several TV stations around the country - one of them being in Honolulu. When he first found out about this, I said that I would be going with him if he ever got the chance to go. Well, he was told last Friday that he would be going to Hawaii at the end of this month. So I immediately jumped at the opportunity and my plane ticket was purchased yesterday! I promise I will take millions of pictures :) Our hotel will be overlooking Waikiki Beach...

Another exciting event was my job promotion! I am now coding for anesthesia for a hospital in Decatur, IL. I'm still in the learning process right now, so it's pretty overwhelming. But I had been praying for something to come along, and this pretty much just fell into my lap! God is so amazing!

Coupon Organizer Giveaway!

2009-07-31T08:59:00.000-07:00

Visit FrugalCouponLiving for a chance to win a handmade coupon organizer like this one!

Get your Swag on!

2009-07-16T12:54:00.000-07:00

I have been introduced to a fun little program called "Swagbucks". I had seen posts about it on frugalcouponliving.com, but just never really paid any attention to it. Well, my mom told me that she joined, and that she was going to send me an email inviting me to join. She told me that it is a search engine site - like google. And every now and then when you're searching the internet for something through swagbucks.com, a little box will pop up saying that you've earned a certain number of swagbucks. Another way you get them is if you refer people or you use a "swagcode". So I joined yesterday...and so far I have 13 swagbucks! The website has prizes that you can use your swagbucks to get, such as giftcards and iTunes downloads. So if you would like to join (and in the process help me earn more swagbucks) click the box below....

OH! I forgot to mention that it is completely FREE to join :)
AND you get 3 swagbucks to start off with when you join.

Yeah...I've been a bad blogger

2009-06-09T15:32:00.000-07:00

So sorry! The month of May was crazy for us. Something was going on every time we turned around! The biggest event was our trip to Colorado for Thomas's college roommate's wedding. And we DROVE there. Here are some pictures...

Windmills in Kansas

The scenery was so beautiful!

The total mileage of our trip!

Chicks with Cents

2009-05-08T10:40:00.000-07:00

Check out this new blog -

I love a great couponing blog and especially one with a giveaway! Go on over and enter for your chance to win a one-year subscription to All You Magazine!

Town Hall for Hope

2009-04-23T14:09:00.000-07:00

My husband was interviewed on WFSA today about Dave Ramsey's Town Hall for Hope webcast that will take place tonight. Check out the video!

My Coupon Savings - Winn Dixie

2009-04-08T18:13:00.000-07:00

The first thing I learned that I had to do in order to become an effective coupon user was to start collecting the circulars from the Sunday paper (SmartSource, Redplum, and P&G). So I subscribed to the Montgomery Advertiser and got my first paper on February 22. I started searching blogs devoted to couponing for the best way to organize my coupons. Frugalcouponliving.com offered some GREAT advice and tips for doing just that.

I write the date on the circular, holepunch, and put them in this binder...

We went grocery shopping at Winn Dixie on Monday. They had some GREAT sales and they are also doubling coupons all month! And here is what we saved...

I cannot tell you how proud I was!! This was actually the first time we did our "major" shopping trip at Winn Dixie (we have always gone to Wal-Mart), and we are definitely going to start shopping there - it was less crowded, more convenient, and the savings you get from the reward card are awesome.

My birthday is on Saturday and we are going to Miyako for dinner. I'm so excited!

Town Hall for Hope at Prattville Church of Christ

2009-04-03T08:44:00.000-07:00

Tired of hearing the fear, doom and gloom that’s filling the airwaves? Join Dave Ramsey for a nationwide town hall meeting and discover what’s happening with the economy, how we got here, and where we’re going. Plus, Dave will answer your questions live throughout the event!
Join us for this free event April 23 at 8:00 p.m. EDT in one of the thousands of venues across the country as we stand together to reignite the fire of hope!

***PRATTVILLE CHURCH OF CHRIST WILL BE HOSTING THIS EVENT. IF YOU ARE IN THE AREA AND WOULD LIKE DIRECTIONS TO THE CHURCH, LEAVE ME A COMMENT WITH YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS AND I WILL EMAIL YOU WITH DIRECTIONS.***

Our last class of FPU was last night. The last lesson is my favorite - it is entitled "The Great Misunderstanding". It is all about GIVING. The Great Misunderstanding is that in order to have more, you have to hold on tightly to what you have. But as Christians, we know that is the wrong attitude to have. By holding on tightly with a clenched fist, no money will get out - but no more can get in either. If we have an "open palm" attitude with our money, sure some will get out, but we allow God to bless us with more.

The Love Dare

2009-03-25T14:36:00.001-07:00

We are in the "Fireproof Your Marriage" class at church on Sunday mornings. We just got the book "The Love Dare" and started Day 1 on Monday - today marks Day 3, and the "dare" is to buy your spouse something that shows them you're thinking of them. I'm excited about this 40-day journey we are on together!

Oh, and our second debt is gone! YAY!!!

Randomness...

2009-03-19T20:06:00.000-07:00

I realize that I haven't posted in awhile, so I just thought I'd share a few random thoughts and pictures.

I am pleased to announce that our bedroom is painted and our bedroom suite is complete! I took some pictures and tried my best to hide the fact that I still need to clean up a bit.

This is the cute little sconce from Partylite that I picked out after winning half off any item from Haley's blog!

In other news, Thomas presented a lesson last night at "Revive". He chose the topic "God's Advice About Money". He did an excellent job and I was so proud of him! This topic is really close to his heart right now and it is something that he's really passionate about. Speaking of money, we have plans to pay off our next debt at the end of this month! Yay! It just so happened that this is a 3-paycheck month for Thomas, so we get to use the extra paycheck towards the debt. My biggest struggle in this process is being patient...and our biggest weakness is going out to eat. But we made a goal that we would not go out to eat period (fast food included) until my birthday, which is April 11th. We've already made it over a week, and we still have a few more weeks to go. So we'll see!

GIVEAWAY!!!

2009-03-04T20:52:00.000-08:00

Visit Amanda at "More Than Words" for a chance to win $200 in coupons and a coupon organizer!

Valentine Dinner

2009-02-17T15:09:00.000-08:00

Last Friday, the Brown's hosted a Valentine dinner for any couple that wanted to come. I didn't take very many pictures, but I thought I'd share the ones that I did take.

Also, you may have noticed the links on the right to "Money Saving Mom" and "Meal Planning Mommies". GO CHECK THEM OUT! I signed up to get the Sunday paper every week so hopefully the first one will be here next Sunday so that I can get to work on clipping those coupons! And in the process of getting the hang of that, I would like to start meal planning too.

I hope everyone had a Happy Valentine's Day!

Coupons

2009-02-10T11:10:00.000-08:00

I've always wanted to start couponing but just never really had the discipline to go through the ads, find the coupons I wanted, organize them, etc. So I've been looking for any and all tips that would help me in my quest to become a "coupon lady". Thomas found the perfect website for me - its www.couponmom.com There are tons of coupons that you can print out, coupons for free samples of things, and the best part is...IT'S FREE! You can become a member and it doesn't cost a thing (unlike alot of similar websites that I've looked at). Dave Ramsey has had the lady who started this website on his radio show and he recommends her. I learned a neat tip from another blog for keeping coupons organized: buy a 3-ring binder and those protective sleeves that are used to put baseball cards in. Then you basically just organize the coupons however you want to. I'm really motivated after looking at the website and I really want to do this because I know how much money we can save. If anyone has any other tips that they would like to share with me about couponing leave me a comment!

Good Enough

2009-01-23T17:20:00.000-08:00

I found this amazing song today.

It's by Amy Lee, the lead singer of Evanescence.

Hope you enjoy :)

I was tagged!

2009-01-22T14:40:00.000-08:00

Nancy tagged me to share my top four in the categories below. So here goes!

Outstanding memories of 2008:

1. Winning the championship for church league volleyball

2. Going to Destin with our friends

3. Seeing Daughtry in concert

4. Seeing Dave Ramsey live

Favorite foods of 2008:

1. Olive Garden salad

2. Chick-fil-a chicken biscuits

3. Bang Bang shrimp at Bonefish Grill

4. Chilean sea bass at P.F. Chang's

Favorite movies of 2008:

1. Eagle Eye
2. Fireproof
3. Marley & me
4. Quantum of Solace

Favorite places of 2008:

1. Biloxi

2. Philadelphia

3. Washington, D.C.

4. New York City

Events of 2008:

1. Our 2nd wedding anniversary

2. My 21st birthday

3. Thomas getting a new job

4. My brother leaving for college

Things I liked in 2008:

1. Getting the rest of our bedroom furniture (thanks mom and dad!)

2. Painting our living room and hallway

3. Getting to see the complete remodel of the farm house

4. Going to the hospital to see Chrystal's baby for the first time

Things I look forward to in 2009:

1. Becoming debt free except for our house

2. Going to Encounter with the young adult group

3. Hopefully (fingers crossed!) getting carpet and living room furniture

4. Whatever blessings God decides to give us!

Of course there's so much more than just these answers...but there ya have it! Consider yourself tagged - here's who I'm going to personally tag:

Haley
Laura
Alecia
Katie

Just Chillin'

2009-01-20T10:50:00.000-08:00

Just some updates...

2009-01-15T09:15:00.000-08:00

We FINALLY got our bedroom painted!!! Thomas had the day off Tuesday and he had been telling me that he was going to play golf at Robert Trent Jones(which, by the way, he now gets to play for absolutely FREE because Raycom Media owns all of the RTJ golf courses), but I just had this feeling that he was going to try and surprise me with painting the bedroom, which is exactly what he did! The walls are done and now I just have to finish the trim (whenever we paint, Thomas always does the big areas with the roller and I always do the detail work).

Our second class of Financial Peace is tonight! Last week focused on the importance of saving money, and tonight Dave will talk about Nerds and Free Spirits (I will explain later!).

This weekend we are going door-knocking to invite people to "Prattville Praise and Prayer" at Prattville Church of Christ on January 25th. If you are reading this you are invited as well! It's going to be a great day of fellowship and worship and there will be a meal afterwards. I'm really excited about it because this is a great community outreach and hopefully alot of people will be reached by our efforts.

I promise next time I will post pics of our newly-painted bedroom!

Restaurant Connoisseurs

2009-01-13T09:21:00.000-08:00

Thomas and I go out to eat ALOT! We are trying to cut back on this habit as we embark on our journey to financial peace. But I have to tell you about a restaurant that me and some friends decided to try while Thomas was out of town last weekend. Alecia had told me about it awhile back and I had never heard of it and I'm sure most of you haven't heard of it either. It's Japanese fusion cuisine and the name of the restaurant is Street Cafe (doesn't really sound like your typical Japanese restaurant, does it?). IT WAS SO GOOD!!! Laura got sushi and Josh and I got teriyaki chicken, which came with soup, salad, vegetables, and rice. I'm not joking when I say that the food tasted just like the food at Shogun! The service was great and the prices were very reasonable. If you are in the Montgomery area you have got to visit Street Cafe sometime and let me know if you have as good of an experience as we did!

"Live like no one else now...

2009-01-05T15:23:00.000-08:00

so that you can live like no one else later!" This slogan was made popular by none other than Dave Ramsey! And I'm sooooo excited because Financial Peace University starts this Thursday night! I'm pretty sure most of you are familiar with everything I just said, but if not, here's a link to the website where you can find out more about FPU:

www.daveramsey.com

Here is the game plan for Financial Peace University:

$1,000 to start an Emergency Fund
Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball
3 to 6 months of expenses in savings
Invest 15% of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement
College funding for children
Pay off home early
Build wealth and give! Invest in mutual funds and real estate

One of our big resolutions this year is to complete steps 1 and 2, and to hopefully start on step 3 as well. Thomas and I went through the class at Vaughn Park while we were engaged and we LOVED it! So Thomas has been wanting to start a class at our church for awhile now, and we are thrilled that it has finally come together! I just wanted to share my excitement with yall :)

The Farm House

2008-12-29T15:36:00.000-08:00

A few years ago, my dad inherited my great-uncle's house and property out in the country. Uncle Fred was a bachelor and he kept EVERYTHING, so the house was in pretty bad shape. My parents have been renovating it and the renovations are complete! So last Friday we all spent the night up there. I didn't get as many pics of the house this time, but I'll show some from Thanksgiving...

Back in the woods, there's a small graveyard - just right smack dab in the middle of the woods!
It's off the trail just a little bit, no fence or anything around it....it's really eerie. And they date back to the 1800's.

So now you've seen our Farm House! I think I'm gonna go spend some Christmas money at Kirkland's! I hope everyone has a Happy New Year!!!

It's an Alabama Christmas!

2008-12-25T19:22:00.000-08:00

We had a fantastic Christmas this year! Great food, great family, and great presents - what more could we ask for? Here's a quick recap of the festivities:

Christmas Eve we went to Thomas's grandparents' house for supper and gift-swapping.

Thomas's cousin Rachel and her adorable baby Tripp.

The traditional Christmas breakfast.

We went to my grandparents' house for lunch - this is the wedding ring quilt my Grandma has been working on ALL YEAR! I have secretly wanted one ever since we got married and had no idea that she was making one for us! It is B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L

I love this pic of me and my mom! Don't you love my PINK Santa hat?

There are a few more get-togethers lined up for this weekend, so I'll be sure to post some pics of those later. I'm off work tomorrow (WOO HOO!) but sadly my hubby is not :( Oh well...I'm just thankful that he HAS a job because I know so many people are struggling right now with the way the economy is. Maybe things will start to look up in 2009 - anything is possible with God! I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

Introducing...

2008-12-22T15:48:00.000-08:00

...the Stabler Family! As if you couldn't tell by my header! So I've been wanting to create a blog for awhile now, and I didn't think I was EVER going to figure out all the stuff that goes into it - HTML codes, templates, headers, scrapblogs, JPEGS - oh my! I promised myself that once I got a new camera I would start a blog so that I could share pieces of our life with you all. We were going to get one of those big, nice, professional-looking cameras, but we decided that we still wanted a smaller camera that would be easier to carry around. So we got a Nikon COOLPIX (you've seen the commercials with Ashton Kutcher).

Pretty cool, huh?

So now on to some of first pics we took with our new camera! A recent event of note in our lives was our 2nd anniversary on December 2nd - to celebrate, we went to Bonefish Grill. I'll share a picture of the most amazing appetizer in the world - Bang Bang Shrimp! (for those who have tried it, you know what I'm talking about!)

Thomas got me personalized M&M's! He always comes up with the most creative ideas!

I will post more later with pics from the new camera, but right now we are off to Publix with a $75 gift card that Thomas got from work. I'm pretty excited because I have NEVER shopped at Publix before and have only been inside one ONCE! If I don't post again before Christmas, I hope you all have a Merry Christmas!!