Our New Beginning in Colorado: 2016 in Pictures

I have read and seen so many negative comments about this past year. It breaks my heart. I truly believe that you have to see the good in the world and when we marinate ourselves in the negativity, it changes our perception on everything. I am refusing to allow the negativity into my house and into my mind. Life is full of ups and downs, happiness and sadness, it is what makes us human and this time on Earth meaningful. This year was amazing for me and my family and I would love to share how and why!

In January.... I met my cousin Sheldon because we so happen to live in the same state now! This was actually a picture taken on New Years of 2016! My kids still try to call him "Uncle Sheldon" all the time and it makes me giggle but this was an amazing milestone for our family! I honestly could not think of a better way to ring in the New Year and I am looking forward to continuing this again this year!

I also became a Nanny to help with my families finances and my kids registered for school here in Colorado for the first time! This is also about the time I started contemplating on bringing back and revamping my blog... at least the first time I mentioned it to my family out-loud.  

In February... everything was CRAZY! We experienced our first Snow Storm and the boys had their first taste of a snow day! There was actually snow non-stop for 3 days! The picture above was from the first day... maybe I should have shared the last day where our car was buried?! LOL

Spring Football for Little Man and Spring Soccer for Goalie also began, although it did not look or feel like spring at all! This was their first experience with sports in Colorado.

We also enjoyed a fun Super Bowl party (again with my amazing cousin, Sheldon) and he was pied in the face MULTIPLE TIMES because of his Super Bowl bets.

I also made the big decision to bring back my blog and renamed it, Pinot Noir and Prayers!

In March... We enjoyed our first Easter in Colorado! Unfortunately, we missed Mass because I was new to the whole "defrosting your vehicle before you can drive it when it's freezing outside" thing. I learned some valuable lessons in cold weather living.

This is also the month we surprised the boys and redid their entire room with Star Wars bedding and decor! They were the happiest little boys in the world!

Our first Easter in Colorado Springs was absolutely amazing and a wonderful way to end March.

In April...  we were able to enjoy the outdoors more and I spent more one on one time with my baby boys. We did a lot of Kids in the Kitchen and Clean Eating too.

This was my final month as a stay-at-home mom. I did Nanny a few times during the week but it was only for a few hours. I volunteered at the school as much as possible and finally got Goalie back on track for his therapies.

In May... we attended our first ever baseball game! It was an awesome experience! Check out Colorado Rockies: Our First Baseball Game for more pictures and fun. 

This was the end of the school year for the boys and the beginning of our first summer vacation in Colorado. I began my new job this month too!

We also enjoyed a Kentucky Derby Party. 

In June... we always celebrate A LOT! We have Little Man and my husband's birthday plus our 2nd Wedding Anniversary and Father's Day all within two weeks! It was Harry's 31st and Little Man's 9th birthday this year and we celebrated them together with a Finding Dory theme and went to watch the movie as a family.

We bought a membership to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and went on several breath taking hikes, including the Seven Falls. 

 In July... Little Man was able to train as an Altar Server at our new parish. In Florida, he had already been serving for a year so he was excited he was able to start in our new church too!

This month was full of Reading, swimming and working out!

In August... we had a 4th grader and a kindergartner! This was the start of the boys first full year at school in Colorado. 

My husband and I made a promise to plan dates to have special time together too.

This was the month I was invited into The Zelie Group and it has been an amazing experience so far!

In September... our family grew! We adopted two more cats, Shadow and Cloudy because we felt that they would be special additions to the family even though they were 10 and 6 at the time of their adoption. We were right! You would never guess they were older because they are just as active as our spunky 2 year old cat, Lemon!

We had our first experience at the Labor Day Lift Off!

We also became a scouting family and joined the Cub Scouts! We have a Lion Scout, which is a pilot program, so we are one of the first! And a Webelow! I'm still new at this so I would love some suggestions on how to help the boys with their badges etc.

We attended my cousin's wedding in Kansas and Little Man was an Altar Server! I also volunteered to be a catechist at the church.

In October... we finished our second seasons of football and soccer! Both boys had an amazing season! They learned so much and made some amazing friends. 

I received my first Little Catholic Box this month as a gift from my dad! 

The boys received their Cub Scout uniforms and attended their first big event as a Scout, the Boy Scout Centennial Campout! They shot BB guns for the first time and made their very own emergency cable bracelets. 

This was Goalie's birthday month and he turned 6! To celebrate we visited Diana's Pumpkin Patch and the boys even earned a Cub Scout Patch for completing the corn maze!

We were forced to buy a new car this month as well because our older one decided to crack an engine block while my husband was driving home from work one night.

This was our first Halloween dressing up together and we decided on a Star Wars theme: Little Man was a Flame Trooper, Goalie was Captain Rex, my husband was Darth Vader and I was a Storm Trooper. It was so much fun, I can't wait to plan another family costume.

In November... was filled with amazing food! We were blessed to attend a Friendsgiving and still do a traditional Thanksgiving at home and invited new friends to share the experience with us! 

We also participated in our first Turkey Trot (yes, we did dress like turkeys!)

Let's not forget...Goalie lost his first baby tooth!

This month was the end of our OFFICIAL first year in Colorado. We have learned so much and are ready to fill this next year with more neat experiences!

In December...there is so much to share, I barely know where to begin!

I was asked to join the committee at church to help with our Parish Faith Nights and this month was my very first one! It was Advent themed and we made Craft Advent Wreaths and sang songs.

I won a Mass Box during a Giveaway and hosted my first ever Giveaway during December!

We attended the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo Electric Zoo Safari as a family! So many beautiful lights and even got a chance to see Mr. and Mrs. Claus while we were there.

Goalie was in a Winter Musical Production called the Big Chill at school and both boys won awards for Outstanding Student and their participation in the 100 Mile Club!

I also have found myself pulled into the Bullet Journal craze and am currently working on my first ever Bujo and adding some Liturgical Pages and trackers along with so much more!

To end this month, I was able to watch my children sing in the Christmas Eve Christmas Choir and it just made my heart so full, I could have burst! There were so not so fun things that we endured this year but as you can see, the good far out weighed the bad! And it will continue to be that way as long as we realize all the amazing blessings around us and never forget what is important! How was 2016 for you and your family? I hope it was filled with many blessings and that the upcoming year is even more amazing. You still have a couple more days before the end of 2016... let's go out in a bang! I am linking this with Revolution of Love.

God Bless!

#WorthRevisit: Money Saving Phone Apps

The New Year is right around the corner! With that in mind, I have been focusing on what I want out of this new year and how I can accomplish it. Financial stability is something I have been attempting to achieve for the past several years and I have finally started making headway. These apps I have used for close to a year and I am very happy with the results of my savings adventure. You are still able to use coupons and capitalize on the great sales and then be rewarded with these cash-back options. You will hopefully be pleasantly surprised with some of the exciting plans I have for my blog this upcoming New Year. This is my post I am sharing with Reconciled to You and Theology is a Verb for the #WorthRevisit:

Money Saving Phone Apps

With the season of Lent, I often think back to New Years when I create New Years Resolutions. One of my New Years Resolutions was to save more money on my families budget... especially groceries, clothes and our entertainment. In my quest to become a savvy saver, I have found many phone apps that assist me with my goal!

SavingStar:  I love this app! It has many cash back options on not only grocery items for a family household but hygiene and cleaning products too. Sometimes it can take a while to get your receipts processed but SavingStar offers a weekly HEALTHY OFFER and FREEBIES! Once you reach a $5 balance you can have the money transferred into your PayPal account! Another cool aspect is that you can link your loyalty cards to your SavingStar account.

MobiSave: This is the easiest app to use because once you claim a cash back offer and it is approved, the money is automatically transferred into your PayPal account no matter how small the rebate! Instant gratification always makes me motivated...especially when it comes to saving money! Please use my Promo Code when you sign up! The Promo Code is: LOASXCTS

Ibotta: This app has the greatest assortment of cash back items available at a time. It also includes... WINE! One of the coolest ways to make money from this sight is to collect bonuses by referring friends and creating a team. The site has monthly team challenge bonuses that you receive when you claim a certain number of rebates or reach a set monetary amount for the month! If you click the link and join you will be joining my team and they offer a signup bonus too! You get a $10 bonus for joining my team! In addition to team bonuses, you can reach other bonuses with purchasing similar products or purchasing the same item several times throughout a period of time. This was one of the first Cash Back apps I tried and I am hooked!

Checkout 51: This is similar to MobiSave except you must reach a $20 savings balance before you can redeem your cash back. Although it is hard to wait, having an extra $20 to spend on whatever you want is really nice! You also have to save the products to your MobiSave account prior to purchasing them to be able to redeem the offers.

Receipt Hog: This is the easiest way to make some extra money! All you do is take a picture of your receipts from shopping, eating out, even getting gas! After you take a picture of your receipt you are given either coins or a chance to play the "Hog Slots". Once you reach a certain number of coins you can redeem either an Amazon or PayPal credit! Every receipt also enters you into a monthly drawing to win even more money!

Find&Save: This app I just found about a month ago and I already have received over $25 in "Cash Dash" Money! Look through the Cash Dash Offers and you will see that you get money just because you spent it! For example, I went grocery shopping at Safeway and I selected an offer for money back on my Safeway receipt. The requirements were that I needed to spend at least $75 and I could receive 3% of my total receipt back! This app does have a $25 cash out requirement but unlike several of the other money saving sites, they will automatically transfer the money into PayPal when you reach the finish line! My SHARE CODE for this site is 65JF

BerryCart: I highly recommend this site to those who have strict dietary needs or purchase grocery items that are Non-GMO, Vegan and Organic products! As I mentioned before, my family and I like to use "healthier" items when they are available and not too pricey, so this app helps me out a lot! My youngest son is also ADHD and products with red and blue dyes affect his behavior so sometimes these types of products are a necessity for me as well. 

Favado: I use this app to create my weekly meal plan and grocery list! It contains the weekly ads to all my favorite shopping locations and even tells me when there is a coupon available to help me save even more on the great deals that are being offered for the week. I am not a great coupons so having the app tell me there is one available, I can normally print it off coupons.com or from the store website. Knowing is half the battle!

Shopmium: I actually just found this app by a referral and I have not had a chance to use the app yet so I will have to come back with my observations a little later. If you are interested in trying this out please use the REFERRAL CODE: KMCCCYMU to receive a FREE LINDT CHOCOLATE BAR :)

Shrink: This is similar to BerryCart but is offers a larger variety of healthy and unique product rebates! They offer a signup bonus that is equivalent to $1 (1,000 Shrink points). This app works like Receipt Hog, except you gain Shrink points instead of coins, and they are redeemed for cash back or you can claim cash back with the listed products as well! Please use the REFERRAL CODE: MXJXMX to receive your first 1,000 Shrink points!

I know there is A LOT of information here but I hope it helps you put a little more money back into your pockets :) There are other ways I use my phone to help me save and earn money but I'll save that for another time.