Load Up Your Pantry

"Meanwhile the most recent government data shows food inflation for the average American household is now running at 4.5% a year. And some prices are rising even more quickly. The latest data show cereal prices rising by more than 8% a year. Both flour and rice are up more than 13%. Milk, cheese, bananas and even peanut butter: They're all up by more than 10%. Eggs have rocketed up 30% in a year. Ground beef prices are up 4.8% and chicken by 5.4%.

You can't easily stock up on perishables like eggs or milk. But other products will keep. Among them: Dried pasta, rice, cereals, and cans of everything from tuna fish to fruit and vegetables. The kicker: You should also save money by buying them in bulk."

Full article: Load Up Your Pantry

Christian Alternatives

A girl friend invited me to check out DittyTalk.com.
I have not joined yet but think it looks interesting.
It has blogs and forums and place to upload/watch videos.
I have belonged to other forums in the past so familar with them.
Sounds like there is a great foundation of founders and supporters.
Googling to find out about it and founder, Brian Bozarth.
Ditty Talk: My Space For Christians (Blogger)
Read all about Ditty Talk at About Us.
MySpace gets Christian competitor
'Clean' site takes on YouTube

Visiting Churches

We've been visiting a church for a month now.
We like it okay but plan to visit a couple others.
Cornerstone Baptist
Maine Street Baptist
TnT Bible Ministries

If laptop stolen

Dealing with this is especially necessary if you do a
lot of online transactions - purchasing and banking.
Article: Stolen Laptop! How do I protect my identity?

Main Tips from article:

* change every password you can think of
* cancel/replace your credit cards (used online)
* add a "fraud alert message" to your credit report
* file a police report
* keep an eye on Craig's List or Ebay for your laptop

Interesting I found this article after returning from a trip.
Even though we did not plan to use the laptop (on honeymoon)
we brought it with us to make sure nothing happened to it.

Jobs Winners and Losers

The job market changes during recession (which is looming):
Winners: Hospitals, schools and the assembly line for airplanes
Losers: Construction workers, real estate agents and auto workers
Read more at Job winners and losers in hard times

New Church

We have been visiting a new church these past two weeks. We are looking for a church home. We like the church okay. It's a non-denominational which I thought would be more comfortable for my husband since that is where he came from. Myself I've attended primarly different Baptist denominations and Church of the Nazarene with brief stints at Mennonite and Salvation Army.

We did sign up for their "new folks" dinner after church on the 20th. It's a chance to sit and talk with the pastor and elders. It's a way to better get to know the people and the church's future. The church is bursting at the seams and looking towards a new building situation whether that be at the current location or somewhere new, whether it is buying existing building or building new.

We are also expecting a visit from church member Thursday. We believe it is a church elder but not positive. We do know he helped last week to greet people when regular greeter was out sick. He has been friendly towards us as has the rest of the congregation. Actually I recognized a few of the people from my youth even if I did not really know them to call them friend.

Honeymooning

Randy and I wed December 1st, 2007.
Read more about it in my other blog.

Deuteronomy 24:5 says "If a man has recently married,
he must not be sent to war or have any other duty laid on him.
For one year he is to be free to stay at home
and bring happiness to the wife he has married."

Just something to think about in this fast paced world.
It would be nice not to feel rushed to get back to "routine" life.