finally catching up...

Hello, my sweet bloggy friends! I've been saying for a while now (give or take a couple of years) that I was gonna attempt blogging again. I'd actually planned on trying during the holidays. I'd planned on journaling Brent's last Christmas with us, but this was the first year since he left us that I wasn't struggling horribly with everything about Christmas and remembering all of the hard memories that come with it. I mostly just wanted to be happy. I wanted to look forward all of the things that I've always loved about this time of year.. besides, Brent would want us to be happy.

With that said, we did have a very nice Christmas. I struggled some with New Year's Eve, then the next two days that follow, but as always - getting Jan. 2 behind us seemed to put an end to all of the dread for another year. (That's of course NOT to say that we don't miss Brent with every breath - it's just that all of those hard memories start in October and weigh heavy on my heart right up until the day AFTER he got his Heavenly healing) I can't say all of that without saying how VERY THANKFUL we are to KNOW that life doesn't end here - that stepping over into eternity is REALLY where it all begins. We're SO THANKFUL that we KNOW that Brent is with Jesus! (I'm still thinking I may move some of those last posts from Caringbridge over so that I'll be able to find them quickly. Those were the hardest days of our lives, but def the most miraculous and beautiful as well. <3

On to other things.. I realized when I pulled up my blog that I REALLY NEED to update my photos and information on here. Zach is now 14 and Gabe is 11. They both look more like little men now, than the baby-faced pictures that I have posted here. As soon as I have time to play around and see if I can remember how everything works, I'll post new pics. ;)

I have so much to tell you. God has done some MIGHTY things in our lives. My marriage is a kagillion times better than it's ever been. (Yes, I know that kagillion isn't a word, and that if it was a word I probably misspelled it, but that's okay.. I'm weird and totally okay with that) ;) I may attempt a post highlighting all of the beautiful ways that God has brought about these changes. With all of that said -- I'm SOOOO CRAZY about my man, and eternally THANKFUL for him!

Another major change is that I've lost some weight. (Of course you already know that if we're friends on facebook)

At one point I'd lost 65 pounds, but I found a few of them back during the holidays. O:) No, worries, I'm gonna outrun them again soon. Very soon, I hope. The weight-loss thing is yet another answer to prayer. God is faithful!

Well, I think that'll wrap me up for today. I'd really wanted to jump back into blogging and truly had no idea where to start. I think I just followed my ADHD around and posted random things as they came to mind. Sorry if it was hard to follow me. HA! Maybe I'll be a little more organized in the future.

I'll leave you today with a scripture that we've been memorizing this week..

13 You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. ~ Jeremiah 29:13

checking in..

Hello, Friends!


It's been SO LONG since I've posted. WOW! I've been thinking that I'd like to try blogging regularly again, but haven't taken the time to start. God has shown me so much over the past few years and I'd love to share some of it with you. (I know that He's brought us down this path not only to draw us closer to Himself, but so that we might also encourage others) I want to be open to whatever God has for me, so I'm prayerfully considering keeping up my blog again. (I stopped because it became so time-consuming.. I've GOT to keep God, then my family first... Amen?) :)

I hope to check back again soon. For REAL this time... LOL!

celebrating Brent and giveaway winners...

WOW.. I can't believe I didn't even get ONE post in since I mentioned the giveaway.. I'm SUCH a slacker! Oh well.. on with the update.

So it was 14 years ago TODAY that God gave us one of our most precious and treasured gifts, He gave us our firstborn son.

Brent was as beautiful and healthy as any new mom could wish for. All ten fingers and toes were there.. he had hair the color of his daddy's, and his skin was as pink and soft as could be. He was PERFECT. We never knew what a short time we'd have to spend with this AMAZING gift, but OH the things he taught us in his short life!

Those of you that have been with us for any length of time have probably already heard me tell of how Brent started telling those he loved how they needed JESUS. (This started happening when he was only 4. He was told Zach - who was TWO at the time that he should ask Jesus to save him NOW.. ha!)

Brent "officially" accepted Christ as his SAVIOR on Easter Sunday at the age of 8. Yes, he was something special from the beginning. Our boy is such a treasure! (I hate to speak of him in past tense because he IS still ALIVE, AMEN?? He's actually MORE ALIVE in Heaven than we are here)

Oh, how I'd love to share all the details and all the ways he blessed us, but that might very well take FOREVER. To say he was a blessing to all of us would be a tremendous understatement.

I'd like to say a SPECIAL "THANK YOU" to all of you that are, and have been celebrating his LIFE with us this month!! It's a WONDERFUL feeling to know that he's remembered.

My challenge to you today is to ask you to do a random act of kindness for someone today in memory of Brent. He absolutely LOVED to make other people happy. It doesn't take much to bless someone.. it might be as small a gesture as offering a smile to the next person you meet. (You never know what might be going on in the heart of the stranger you meet on the street.. they too may be dealing with the loss, or pending loss of a loved one)

Yes, our boy was also DELIGHTED by giving gifts to others! That's why I chose to celebrate his LIFE by having a giveaway on his birthday. With that said.. the winners are..............

for the bloggy makeover... Erin

the Bible on CD - Laura - (I don't have any contact info.. please email me with your mailing info so I can get this out to you!)

a set of candles - Lisa Shaw

a Paula Dean Cookbook (did I spell her last name right?) - Nen

bath & shower gel - April

bath & shower gel - Jill

and finally, a Lunch for Life cookbook. This is a special cookbook put together by families that have/had children with neuroblastoma. There is a picture of Brent and one of his FAVORITE breads inside - Teresa

Congratulations to all of our winners! Would you please email me with your mailing addresses so I can get this out to you? ☺ nason5@aol.com

I SO WISH I could send something to EVERYONE! THANKS again for visiting and for joining us as we remember our sweet little man.


(Happy Birthday, Sweet Boy, we love you all the way to HEAVEN and back! We count ourselves BLESSED to have been your parents)

celebrating Brent's life with a giveaway!

Yes, it's that time again... It's time to celebrate Brent's life by having a giveaway on his birthday. He would be 14 this year.. man, I can hardly believe it.

Brent had the BIGGEST HEART EVER and absolutely LOVED to give gifts! That's why it seems only right that we celebrate him this way. I would LOVE for you to read (or at least look over THIS POST that I did last year announcing last years life celebration) This post will really give you a peek into what a GENEROUS heart our little man had!

So THIS YEAR I'll be giving away at least two gifts and will challenge you to do a R.A.K. (random act of kindness) in celebration of his amazing life on his birthday, October 28.


I'm still working through the details, but one of the gifts will be a blog makeover designed by "The Design Girl". (She's the lady that designed my blog.. I REALLY LOVE her work!) I've already made the down payment and my name is on the list so the winner won't have a really long wait! YAY!!



Another gift I'm really excited about is this...



This of course is "The Word of Promise Full Bible".

I "borrowed" the product description.. check it out!

Product Description:

"Come experience the entire Bible recorded with an all-star cast led by an all-star cast of actors, including Jim Caviezel as Jesus, Richard Dreyfus as Moses, Gary Sinise as David, Jason Alexander as Joseph, Marisa Tomei, Louis Gossett Jr., and over 600 actors contributing to this timeless work. This audio Bible is produced with state of the art audio technology. Including sound effects and an original musical score. This is a new experience in audio Bible like none before. There are 79 CDs in this set."


I heard about this while listening to the Rick & Bubba show the other day. The guy that's doing Jesus' voice is the same guy that played Jesus in "The Passion of the Christ".

Now, It seems like this isn't just your regular audio Bible. (It's not some monotone voice going on and on and on... ) It's a WHOLE CAST of people reading/speaking out the WORD just as it appears in the Bible. (It's done in the very trusted NKJV) I've ordered one for ourselves, but haven't gotten it in yet. I'm thinking this is going to be AMAZING! If you want to hear a sample of it for yourself click HERE.

Okay, so the only rule is this:

Leave a comment for the giveaway on THIS post ONLY. This will keep it simple! (I'll "link back" to this post each time I post to keep it easy for everyone)

If you want extra entries you can...

- post this graphic/link in your sidebar - 5 entries

<a href="http://nason5.blogspot.com/2009/10/celebrating-brents-life-with-giveaway.html"> <center><img src="http://i36.tinypic.com/121fi35.jpg"/></center></a>

- mention this giveaway and in a post - encouraging others to do a "R.A.K." in honor and celebration of Brent's life - another 5 extra entries

Of course you're free to enter as many times as you'd like! ☺ Remember, the drawing will be held on October 28... if you do anything for extra entries please say so in a comment so you'll get the credit. ☺

love, love, LOVE these boys!

The last post I did was to encourage everyone that wanted to, to eat at Chili's on a certain day and support St. Jude. (I was asked by someone in the comments if this fundraiser would be at all locations and I never got to answer - SO SORRY! Had sick kiddos and were gone to the docs office.. it was an all day run)

Anyway, on to what I wanted to share today.. ☺

While our son, Brent, was sick, we met lots of wonderful people, many through his caringbridge site. The two families that I'll be sharing with you today QUICKLY became FAMILY to us.

You've probably heard me talk about my friend Susan? (She's a friend/spiritual mom to me) Then there's Jill, she's another sister with an incredibly STRONG faith! she and her son Cooper flew all the way here to take part in "Brent Nason Day" back in September 06..





(Pictured: Brent and Ash in the chair, starting on the left in the back.. Zach, Gabe, Clay and Cooper)


Jill and Susan are also long time prayer warriors for our family.. I SO LOVE these ladies and their precious families!)


So our buddy Jordan (which is Susan's son) and our friend Cooper, who is Jill's son both colored peppers for Brent. (Since Cooper doesn't have a caringbridge site, PRAISE GOD he's HEALTHY!!... I'll link you to his sister Hutton's site.. Hutton is a little MIRACLE baby... you'd be BLESSED to read her story and to get to know their family too)

My heart just melted when I saw these!


This is Cooper....

and this is our buddy Jordan...

Yes, it's just WONDERFUL to know that Brent is remembered by his friends! I literally "teared up" when I saw these pics. Precious, PRECIOUS boys!

Okay, friends.. stay tuned! I'm already working on my next post where I'll be announcing my next giveaway. (This is how we'll be celebrating Brent's life this year on his birthday) ☺

Have a WONDERFUL day!!!

Eat Chili's today - Help St. Jude =-)

YIKES! I almost forgot to mention that by eating at Chili's today you'll be helping fund research for St. Jude. Yes, Chili's will be donating 100 PERCENT of their profit from today to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital!!

I thought that before I go I'd share a picture of Brent from a few years back. We'd gone on out one of these Chili's/St. Jude events to do our part. ☺ In the pic below is our precious Brent with Madelyn Beamon (another "Heaven Healed Neuroblastoma Warrior"), her mom Brandi, her Daddy Neal, and her brother Tyler. It's so hard to believe that so many children we knew from St. Jude are in Heaven now. Research is DESPERATELY needed and funding is the key. What better way to help out than eating at Chili's? Can you think of a better place to eat lunch/supper today? (I mean, if you were eating out anyway.. haha)




This is a pic of Brent with his cousin Clay, who was also one of his very best friends. ☺





Thanks for putting up with me twice in one day.. LOL! I hope you have a GREAT week!

Love,
Tonya

a yummy freebie while supplies last!

Hello, Friends!

As much as I'd like to do a heartfelt post this morning, I just don't have the time. I DO however want to let you in on something I just found out about. If you click smuckers.com/promotions, you'll have the chance to submit a time-saving idea and get a coupon for FREE uncrustables. When the page opens click on "see details". HURRY, it's only open to the first 20,000 entries!

zach found a treasure today..

Hello, Friends!

This will be a quick post because I'm afraid I'd be an emotional mess if I try to put too much into this one. Zach was playing on one of Brent's old laptops and found some video footage of Brent that I don't remember seeing before.

It's a TRUE blessing to find these little "footprints" that Brent left behind, but OH SO HARD on the heart! (I just LOVE to hear Brent's voice.. I LOVE the country twang that they all have.. precious, PRECIOUS memories!)

I'll end by saying that I'm SO VERY THANKFUL that Brent KNEW our LORD and that we KNOW he's in Heaven waiting for us! What a TRUE JOY it is to have the BLESSED HOPE of an ETERNITY with our JESUS!

how to save BIG with coupons..

Hello, Friends!

Okay, so as I mentioned yesterday I will be sharing some money-saving tips I've gleaned from a couple of friends (and of course my sister-in-law who is also my friend).

See, I've not been the most frugal of all folks - in fact, I've hardly been frugal at all. Now, I'll be the FIRST to "google" for coupons when I'm shopping online. It's really just too easy to not do it, but when it came to clipping coupons.. well, I had a BAJILLION excuses NOT to. (Mostly just carelessness)

The Bible has PLENTY to say about making wise decisions and managing what God has given us. As I thought about what it means to be a helpmeet to my husband and the decisions I make daily, a couple of verses came to mind...


Proverbs 31:17-18

17 She sets about her work vigorously;
her arms are strong for her tasks.

18 She sees that her trading is profitable,
and her lamp does not go out at night.



Obviously I have NOT been the most helpful helpmmet, but "PRAISE THE LORD, I SAW THE LIGHT"~ (Sorry, I just remembered watching David Crowder sing this on YouTube) Check it out if you've got a second...

Okay, so I'll stop with the rambling and move on to what I've learned...


First, I got started by checking a few sites online. My FAVORITE is The Grocery Game. Yes, there is a small fee, but it is BY FAR the EASIEST to use and will pay for itself the FIRST time you shop! (It's the easiest to use for me anyway) Oh, and did I mention there is a FREE trial membership to The Grocery Game? You can watch this quick video that will give you an idea how this program works....








I did find another site that helps you plan your shopping list the way the other does, but it just doesn't seem to be as easy to understand and takes a little longer to map out. (A plus for this one is that it's FREE!) It's couponmom.com I ABSOLUTELY LOVE this site too because from there you can print FREE coupons!! (These aren't the little .25 ones that you get in the newspapers - though I DO clip those too.. MANY of the ones on this site are $1.00 or more!)

So whether you decide to go with The Grocery Game or Coupon Mom, the idea is the same. Your goal will be to use your coupons buying ONLY the items that are on sale. Under the FAQ'S on the The Grocery Game they tell you that they know when items are at their lowest price and that's when they recommend you buy them. (Thus NEVER paying full price for anything)

Since I've started shopping this way, I've knocked a HUGE HOLE in the amount I'd normally spend. For instance, tonight I stopped in Kroger and spent 29.00, but I SAVED $25! Granted, grocery stores are usually much higher than shopping somewhere like Walmart, but the idea is that you ONLY buy the "loss leaders". (Those are the items that the stores cut WAY DOWN just to get you in the store.. THOSE are the items we use our coupons for to get MAXIMUM savings!!)

It's really fun to shop this way because you'll get items that you might not normally splurge on. For instance, this week I got an AirWick Automatic Spray Kit similar to this one...
for only .99 and it lists in Kroger for about $13! (Or about $10 at Walmart) It was on my "Terri's List" for the week and I was just beside myself when I got it for UNDER $1! (I know, I'm WAAAYYY TOO EASILY amused)



Another cool thing about couponing??? If you have a Kroger Card (you get those in the store by filling out a quick little questionnaire) you can load coupons on it BEFORE you ever leave home. However, what REALLY gets me about this is that it will take the coupon that you've loaded on your card AND a paper coupon on the SAME item! (However, the coupons on the card WON'T double.. but I'm pretty sure the paper ones DO up to .55 and then you STILL get the coupon you loaded from home!) You can do this by going to shortcuts.com and registering your shopping card. Then you pick out the coupons you want and it automatically loads them! Oh, I keep talking about Kroger.. they are one of the major chains in my area.. shortcuts.com works with SEVERAL DIFFERENT stores. You can find a list of their partner stores HERE.

Again, the idea is to buy things that are at their "rock bottom" price. (Avoiding other things unless necessary) Last week Kroger had a 10 for $10 sale. I had coupons on at least two of the items so I paid only .50 per item instead of $1. (I can't remember for the life of me what those items were.. LOL) Kroger doesn't even require you to actually BUY all 10 of the 10 items.. ANY item that's listed within that sale will be $1 each. I REALLY LOVE to find the "buy one get one" sales! With these you can use TWO coupons (one on each item) bringing your total even LOWER!!


Okay, I think I've rambled enough for one day. If I think of any other major secrets that I've learned I'll share them in my next post. I wish you all HAPPY shopping!

Wait! Before I sign off I wanted to "link" you to my friend Molly. She's one of the friends I've been gleaning from. She also has a post here on how to save BIG at CVS! I think Molly actually explained this MUCH MORE CLEARLY than I just did.


I hope you all have a WONDERFUL weekend! If you're new to this too, don't forget to get your Sunday paper! The larger ones usually have a LOT of coupons in them. (Another heads-up.. the paper on September 27 is supposed to have over $90 in P&G coupons!) Go HERE to sign up for a sample and some GREAT manufacturers coupons!

Wow, I CANNOT believe it's been so long since I've posted here! I have so much to share with you but really have NO IDEA where to begin. I suppose I can start by saying that I've MISSED all of you (my bloggy buddies)! Oh, I'll also go ahead and tell you that I plan to do two posts this morning. I'd promised some friends that I'd give the details on a new hobby I've started, but I don't want to mix that in with all the "blah, blah, blah, blah-blah" that I'll be doing.

(Still fumbling to find a starting place.. heehee)

Let's see, summer came and went.. we had a pretty nice garden until the CROWS found it. HA! (They even ate my tomatoes while they were STILL GREEN!) I decided I'd just give up on the yummy red fruit and focus on my bell peppers, cucumbers, and green beans. Guess what?? Our baby cows found a nice ditch under the fence that they could fit through and they ended up finding my green beans! (Seriously, I'm thinking the garden was NOT supposed to happen this year.. HA!) I won't complain, we DID get several pints of bell pepper and green beans in the freezer and were pretty much sick of the cucumbers before they ever went bad, so all was not lost.

As for more personal details - We really enjoyed our free time and just being together. The boys did what boys do - they STAYED dirty! LOL (Of course that means that I also conquered mountains and mountains of laundry, but don't feel too sorry for me, I make them help a LOT!)

HMMMM... right in the middle of my typing up this post this morning the hubby got up and started getting ready to get out for the day. (Little things like THIS are what keep me from posting.. HA! That's NOT a complaint, there is NOTHING I'd rather do than take care of my family.. I'm just sayin'.. that's all)

So NOW it's mid-afternoon instead of morning.. I'll TRY to pick up and keep going..

Okay, this will likely be THE MOST scatterbrained post I've done yet, but I'm DETERMINED to get SOMETHING up TODAY! Oh, speaking of.. the "two" that I mentioned earlier are not going to happen. I'll post tomorrow with the deets on my hobby. (Just a hint.. it's COUPONING! I've TOTALLY FLIPPED OUT over this new way to shop!)

Before I go, I want to let you in on something I found out this morning. The lady that did my blog makeover is having a giveaway for her birthday. (It's TODAY) She'll be giving away a bloggy makeover for some BLESSED person that enters TODAY! Hop on over and wish her a happy birthday if you'd like and be sure to get YOUR name in the hat! (Click the link just above or the graphic below)

I'll HOPEFULLY check back first thing in the morning! (Oh, and THANKS SOOOOO MUCH for the sweet nudges to get back out here and start blogging again - YOU are some of my very BESTEST friends, and I ♥ YOU VERY MUCH)