Grocery IQ App Review

Grocery IQ is an iPad app (maybe iPhone too, I'm not sure) from Coupons.com. I had seen it on a demo at one point before we got the iPad, and thought it was really neat so when I finally got my iPad I downloaded it.

It took a little while to get used to, but I love it!

Here's what you can do with it:

• Create your grocery list (and separate it by store if you plan multiple trips)
• Save your favorite items and their prices
• Download coupons to a savings card (if you have one)
• Print paper coupons
• E-mail your list to yourself or spouse.

It takes a little while to get everything set up. I started by taking my receipts and inputting the items I buy a lot like pasta sauce and Dr. Pepper. You can put in the details of the item (if it's not one of the many brands that are pre-programmed into the app) and add the price.

To make your list you can add items from your favorites or history, or add it straight to the list. At the bottom of your list, it totals the items for you (obviously it can only add up the items that you have a price added for, but it updates as you update the list). The list is also separated by which aisle or area of the store the item is located in such as deli counter or canned foods.

Once you get an item you click the little box and it goes to your cart. The list then shows how much you've spent in your cart and what your list of items still to get totals to. 

I really love this app. It makes budgeting a grocery list incredibly easy. I used to make my lists on index cards and then add the items up as I went, but this is so much easier! I've used the iPad by itself for my last few grocery trips and this app is just so easy and helpful! Best of all, no more index cards to recycle!

Season of Gratitude

I have incredibly vivid dreams. My dreams are always really lifelike and it seems like it's hard to wake up from them. This is probably related to the fact that my sleep cycle is some sort of messed up, but that's beside the point.

For the longest time, my dreams were really frightening. I would have really scary dreams that felt incredibly real, and when I woke up it took a while, sometimes a long while, to realize that the dream was just a dream.

However, lately, my dreams haven't been scary. Sure, sometimes they are still stressful and I wake up really tense, but waking up tense is so much better than waking up terrified.  My dreams are still really vivid, but upon waking, it's clear that they were just dreams.

This is something I've been working on for a long time, using every trick in the book from aromatherapy to mantras to visualization, but this morning I realized that I've made substantial progress.

Today I'm grateful that I cannot remember the last truly terrifying dream.

Season of Gratitude

So for tonight's post, I wanted to reflect on this whole process so far.

The one thing that I've really struggled with has been not wanting to repeat myself. When I reflect on the day, I usually dismiss the first few things that come to mind, because I've already written about them, and well, people don't want to read the same thing twice.

At first this little conundrum had me down. I kept thinking, do I really have so few things in my life to be grateful for? But then, as the process went on, my viewpoint changed a bit as well. Instead of having so few things to be grateful for, I began to see it as really appreciating the things that are important to me.

There are a million things I could be grateful for today. I could be grateful for the cooler weather, the returning health to my hip, the beauty of God's creation, the simplicity of Abilene, the grace of God that has brought me here, my wonderful husband, my family, my cat, the list goes on.

But I only want to write about a few of them.

The ones I want to write about are the ones that are truly important to me. I'm grateful for my health, my wonderful husband, and the beauty of God's creation, and that's what I focus on the vast majority of the time. That's what's important to me.

I thought that this whole experiment would allow me to change my outlook and be more positive, and I think it has to some point. However, the greatest change is that it's made me realize what I value and how easy it is to forget what matters.

Tomorrow I will continue with what I'm grateful for, but from now, I'm going to be okay with repeats, because some things are worth celebrating more than once!

Treasury!

An item from my shop was featured in another treasury! I'm feeling the love!

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/NjI0MDAzNHw4MTMwODE1MzU/have-yourself-a-geeky-little-christmas

Season of Gratitude

Lately Philip and I have been working to start planning a new business venture. It's something that he's really been interested in for a while now, and we're starting to put some early steps into action. We've had a few friends who have been particularly encouraging lately. It's been really nice to have someone to bounce ideas off of and to provide advice on how to make this all work. I'm grateful not only for their encouragement, but to be able to journey with Philip in this new adventure.

Simons Says...

Simon says always eat your breakfast, or someone else's.

Season of Gratitude

Let me back up for a minute here. On Halloween of last year I was in a car accident (some guy didn't look before turning left on HWY 351 and the I-20 access road). It totaled my Saturn (Sally the Sexy Saturn, may she rest in pieces), which was the car I had gotten for my 16th birthday. During the accident I slammed on my breaks and had braced my right arm against the button for the horn. This shock of the impact caused that whole side of my body to get messed up, and my hip took most of it. Fast-forward through months of going to the chiropractor and many days of barely being able to walk...

I'm no longer in treatment though it will take awhile for my hip to regain it's strength and flexibility (walking around the mall is enough for it to be sore the next day), I have my range of motion back.

So, what I'm grateful for is that it seems as if we are close to closing the final insurance claim. This accident resulted in three claims, and this one has taken a long time to get done and required my calling the office once a week.

I'm just glad to be putting this all behind us.