Summer break is finally here. Was hoping to spend some of the day by the pool, but our pool at our apartment complex doesn't open till tomorrow.. hopefully, cuz the 911 box isn't working. I'm like doesn't EVERYONE have cell phones now a day and its been hot since March! Let me jump in something refreshing! Oh well, I will be at my in-laws in a matter of hours and they have a pool I will totally be taking advantage of! :)
I didn't get into Roane State, which is a good and a bad thing. Good in the fact that K & I won't be spending 4 months apart, bad that it's another rejection. It also means that I'm going to try to one more school and then I will find something else. I've already been thinking about it, and thinking about doing a preschool, Kindergarten teacher route, or doing something like medical billing. I even thought about becoming an assistant occupational therapist.. but that's even harder to get into than nursing. Like 100+ apply and only 20 spots. I've already got the teaching part down, but I know those are the two grades EVERYONE wants to teach. So I don't know. Hopefully I will get in and we won't have to worry about it.
We also reached a very important milestone. We have gotten to the point we wanted to save up for our house if we chose the Chateau. But I also found another I love: the Meadowbrook. Its about 15K over budget, but it has a huge walk in pantry, and a large laundry room. The kids bedroom would be downstairs on the other end of the house, and there is also another bedroom upstairs, which could be used a guest. Downfall, it has nothing K likes. I could ask them to push out the bonus room a little, and that would make K happy, but who knows how much that might cost. This is a place that I can see us living in till we retire.. or are forced to move. Anyway, sister-in-law said they were building one near her, so that means we will get to see what it look like. So excited. This weekend we are also going to try to narrow down the apartment search from 7 apartments to hopefully 2 or 3. Fingers crossed on that one. Add that to Memorial Day celebrations, Ben graduating pharmacy school and the party there, these 4 days are gonna fly by!!
That's really all that is going on. I've got to finish my laundry and maybe head to Target before we take off.
Friday, May 25, 2012
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
And the end of April..
April once again was a fast month. I'm actually looking forward to 17 work days from now when I won't be working two jobs for about 2 months! I'm hoping I will have time to pick up on this, and enjoy life again. I will also be spending it by the pool or at the lake house. It's almost finished! The good news is we aren't scheduled to go to Memphis again til May 25, so I'm thankful for a short hiatus from there. Don't get me wrong, I love visiting family, but these short quick trips are getting crazy!
We are scheduled to see the Avengers in IMAX and 3D this weekend, but it also means another trip up to Opry Mills. :) I'm finding I am loving that mall!! The Vera Bradley outlet is amazing! And I have already gotten 2 totes, the Vera and Tote, and a large cosmetic case. Right after Christmas I had to order the Weekender for our cruise. I had looked around and decided to get it in a hello deliah print.. now when I got the product I FELL in LOVE! So now I'm hunting bags down! They also have an underarmor store, and I've found a few cute work out shirts, for when I do yoga! Yea, a little on the pricey side.. but so worth it :)
My birthday was great! Much better than last year with the tornadoes, although I did like not having to work and getting paid. :) Kenneth ordered me flowers and had them sent to school. He also got me a bead for my bracelet he got me for Christmas. I had asked him for a bracelet that he could add charms to. He got me one and slowly we are filling it up. But ever since then, we go into a store, and I keep seeing an angel charm. He always calls me his angel, so I always had asked him why I haven't gotten the angel charm for it yet. He got that for me.
We also had a wonderful cookout at my parents, with hot dogs, burgers, corn on the cob, fruit salad, homemade ice cream, and awesome cup cakes I made!! :) I allowed Becky and Christi's boyfriends to come over, and my grandparents were in town, so we just had a small get together, but it has been some time since we had had everyone together, so it was really more than I could have ever asked!
That's really all that is new. I find out about moving to Knox in a few days.. I'm a little nervous.
We are scheduled to see the Avengers in IMAX and 3D this weekend, but it also means another trip up to Opry Mills. :) I'm finding I am loving that mall!! The Vera Bradley outlet is amazing! And I have already gotten 2 totes, the Vera and Tote, and a large cosmetic case. Right after Christmas I had to order the Weekender for our cruise. I had looked around and decided to get it in a hello deliah print.. now when I got the product I FELL in LOVE! So now I'm hunting bags down! They also have an underarmor store, and I've found a few cute work out shirts, for when I do yoga! Yea, a little on the pricey side.. but so worth it :)
My birthday was great! Much better than last year with the tornadoes, although I did like not having to work and getting paid. :) Kenneth ordered me flowers and had them sent to school. He also got me a bead for my bracelet he got me for Christmas. I had asked him for a bracelet that he could add charms to. He got me one and slowly we are filling it up. But ever since then, we go into a store, and I keep seeing an angel charm. He always calls me his angel, so I always had asked him why I haven't gotten the angel charm for it yet. He got that for me.
We also had a wonderful cookout at my parents, with hot dogs, burgers, corn on the cob, fruit salad, homemade ice cream, and awesome cup cakes I made!! :) I allowed Becky and Christi's boyfriends to come over, and my grandparents were in town, so we just had a small get together, but it has been some time since we had had everyone together, so it was really more than I could have ever asked!
That's really all that is new. I find out about moving to Knox in a few days.. I'm a little nervous.
Friday, March 30, 2012
And the end of march!
The beginning of March we were in Memphis, the next week we had friends come in, the next week we were in Tampa leaving on a cruise, last week we were in Memphis again.. and this week, is the end of March! Whirlwind trips, but I'm ready to settle down and get things organized and get back to meal planning! But that probably won't happen.. This weekend Kenneth's parents are coming in, next weekend is Easter, the next weekend we will be in Memphis helping Laura and Ben move into their house, the next weekend we don't have anything going, and then the weekend after that is my birthday.. April won't be slow either!
The cruise was a lot of fun! I will say I do like Carnival better though. I thought the hallways where the rooms were larger and not so curvy. Also the atrium seems bigger on Carnival. The shows are good on both ships, and RC does have an adults only place which was very peaceful. I don't know if its because Ive been on Carnival seven times.. and I'm spoiled or what. Also they never sang at dinner! Almost every night on Carnival there is some singing! :( And the showers seemed smaller too!
We visited Cozemel, Mexico and swam with sea turtles! I also got some Mexican Vanilla! Best stuff! Already made a batch of choc chip cookies for Kenneth's bad day he had on Wed :( I enjoyed snorkling a lot! Our port to Costa Maya got canned because the waves were so bad, which meant we were on the ship for 4 days and in port 1.. blah! But we didn't mind the sun, and the waves weren't bad. But I did want to get a pair or tanzinite earings and look at the price of diamond earings in Costa Maya. Oh well, another reason to go back! :)
When we got back we drove 900 miles.. from Tampa, to Murfreesboro, and then to Memphis. We found out when we turned on our phones that Kenneth got an email from a company he had applied to and want to work for. They set up the interview for Friday, and since we were already driving 10 to 11 hours, just figured to make a day of it. We swung into the Boro around 7, got clean clothes, dinner, and some more books to read. And arrived in Memphis around 10:30 that night. Not bad considering we left Tampa port around 9:30 after getting cleared! :)
During this trip, we were able to see what our future house would look like.. I'm am now SET on the Chateau layout! I'm in love! We visited the church that we would start attending. And we saw Hunger Games. It was a wonderful, unexpected, great weekend! And on that note, I'm going to get to cleaning my apartment. But I've leave you with a picture of what my future kitchen that will be in the house.. I'm literally drooling over all the counter space and open concept!! :) The sink over looks the living room, and where the photo is being taken is where the breakfast area is! He didn't get the job, but its nice to know we have all our ducks lined up for that move in the near future. ;)
And one last thing.. M'boro is getting a Chedders!! :) Where the old Ryans used to be, next to Old Chicago and Target.. I'm one happy person right now!!
The cruise was a lot of fun! I will say I do like Carnival better though. I thought the hallways where the rooms were larger and not so curvy. Also the atrium seems bigger on Carnival. The shows are good on both ships, and RC does have an adults only place which was very peaceful. I don't know if its because Ive been on Carnival seven times.. and I'm spoiled or what. Also they never sang at dinner! Almost every night on Carnival there is some singing! :( And the showers seemed smaller too!
We visited Cozemel, Mexico and swam with sea turtles! I also got some Mexican Vanilla! Best stuff! Already made a batch of choc chip cookies for Kenneth's bad day he had on Wed :( I enjoyed snorkling a lot! Our port to Costa Maya got canned because the waves were so bad, which meant we were on the ship for 4 days and in port 1.. blah! But we didn't mind the sun, and the waves weren't bad. But I did want to get a pair or tanzinite earings and look at the price of diamond earings in Costa Maya. Oh well, another reason to go back! :)
When we got back we drove 900 miles.. from Tampa, to Murfreesboro, and then to Memphis. We found out when we turned on our phones that Kenneth got an email from a company he had applied to and want to work for. They set up the interview for Friday, and since we were already driving 10 to 11 hours, just figured to make a day of it. We swung into the Boro around 7, got clean clothes, dinner, and some more books to read. And arrived in Memphis around 10:30 that night. Not bad considering we left Tampa port around 9:30 after getting cleared! :)
During this trip, we were able to see what our future house would look like.. I'm am now SET on the Chateau layout! I'm in love! We visited the church that we would start attending. And we saw Hunger Games. It was a wonderful, unexpected, great weekend! And on that note, I'm going to get to cleaning my apartment. But I've leave you with a picture of what my future kitchen that will be in the house.. I'm literally drooling over all the counter space and open concept!! :) The sink over looks the living room, and where the photo is being taken is where the breakfast area is! He didn't get the job, but its nice to know we have all our ducks lined up for that move in the near future. ;)
And one last thing.. M'boro is getting a Chedders!! :) Where the old Ryans used to be, next to Old Chicago and Target.. I'm one happy person right now!!
Sunday, February 26, 2012
I don't know where Feb went...
and I'm certain March is going to feel the same way!
I don't know what I've been doing for the past month. Besides working. Things have settled into a routine both at work and at home. The interim teacher is staying through the end of the year, so that means we don't have the constant worry of if she is coming back hanging over us. We had the Superbowl party at Kenneth's family's house, and while we were there we went to look at the homes we like. I love the neighborhood I found. It's in the country, but still about a 10 minute drive from grocery stores and shopping! :) Just hoping to hear something soon. I really want to start building and get rid of apartment living!!
This Friday is the rodeo with the kids, and then we leave for Memphis. The following weekend Kenneth's friends come into town so we are spending the day with them. The next 2 weekends will be on the cruise, and when we get back on Sunday we have a 2 year old's birthday party to attend. The 31st I'm not sure what we will be doing, but I'm sure it will be recuperating from everything. And by then it's April. One more month closer to finding out about nursing school. About where we are moving. Alrighty, gotta get ready for work.
I don't know what I've been doing for the past month. Besides working. Things have settled into a routine both at work and at home. The interim teacher is staying through the end of the year, so that means we don't have the constant worry of if she is coming back hanging over us. We had the Superbowl party at Kenneth's family's house, and while we were there we went to look at the homes we like. I love the neighborhood I found. It's in the country, but still about a 10 minute drive from grocery stores and shopping! :) Just hoping to hear something soon. I really want to start building and get rid of apartment living!!
This Friday is the rodeo with the kids, and then we leave for Memphis. The following weekend Kenneth's friends come into town so we are spending the day with them. The next 2 weekends will be on the cruise, and when we get back on Sunday we have a 2 year old's birthday party to attend. The 31st I'm not sure what we will be doing, but I'm sure it will be recuperating from everything. And by then it's April. One more month closer to finding out about nursing school. About where we are moving. Alrighty, gotta get ready for work.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Budgeting
Things have settled down. We have an interim teacher, that I'm hoping is going to stay through the end of the year and further. I'm so happy now. I'm not going home exhausted. And its just a better working environment. I still don't know who the new EA is. She still hasn't started, so I'm hoping Monday. I just like the way things are going right now.
I started a new thing at the beginning of the month. I loaded a set amount onto a Publix gift card, and another set amount onto a Kroger gift card. Those two places are where I shop the most, so it makes sense for me to have them. And I used those instead of my debit card while grocery shopping. This helped my budget greatly, in not being able to go over. And once I spent the money it was gone! I have lots of Tide to last me a while, along with dryer sheets, cleaning supplies, tomatoes, cookie mix, stain packets, and more odds and ends. But the best part.. I managed to spend all but 51 cents on my Kroger gift card!! :) I know I still have a few days left, but I'm happy, and I can use what I have in my stockpile for meals on Sun, Mon, and Tues. And I have about $40 at Publix still!
I also found a website that allows me to track my purchases as far as purchase price and percentage off goes. I loaded 125$ on each gift card, at Kroger I purchased around 240$ worth of food, which is a 50% savings. At Publix I purchased around 167$of food. Remember, I still have money left at Publix. But even so, I've saved around 53% there.
Doing this has allowed me to look at what I really need, and not just what is on sale, and try to use up what's in my pantry. With a move around the corner, I don't want to start over, but I also don't want to haul everything to our new place like I did this one. So using up things is what I need to start getting better at.
Anyway, thats an update on what's going on. 49 days till Spring Break!
I started a new thing at the beginning of the month. I loaded a set amount onto a Publix gift card, and another set amount onto a Kroger gift card. Those two places are where I shop the most, so it makes sense for me to have them. And I used those instead of my debit card while grocery shopping. This helped my budget greatly, in not being able to go over. And once I spent the money it was gone! I have lots of Tide to last me a while, along with dryer sheets, cleaning supplies, tomatoes, cookie mix, stain packets, and more odds and ends. But the best part.. I managed to spend all but 51 cents on my Kroger gift card!! :) I know I still have a few days left, but I'm happy, and I can use what I have in my stockpile for meals on Sun, Mon, and Tues. And I have about $40 at Publix still!
I also found a website that allows me to track my purchases as far as purchase price and percentage off goes. I loaded 125$ on each gift card, at Kroger I purchased around 240$ worth of food, which is a 50% savings. At Publix I purchased around 167$of food. Remember, I still have money left at Publix. But even so, I've saved around 53% there.
Doing this has allowed me to look at what I really need, and not just what is on sale, and try to use up what's in my pantry. With a move around the corner, I don't want to start over, but I also don't want to haul everything to our new place like I did this one. So using up things is what I need to start getting better at.
Anyway, thats an update on what's going on. 49 days till Spring Break!
Friday, January 13, 2012
It's been one fun week..
I am so thankful for this "snow" day. Granted I do feel they made the best choice. Heading home yesterday after Kroger work was very slippery, and my car did pop up low traction a few times.
School started back on Wednesday, and let me start to tell you how exciting it has been! I knew the EA was going to be leaving, but I had no clue my teacher was going to be taking a medical leave until who knows when.. that means I'm left in the classroom with 7 kids all requiring one on one attention and two subs. It has been an eventful week. But it has also been enjoyable. People have come in and made the classroom look like a classroom. We have bulletin boards up, the schedule has been typed up and made pretty on the wall. We also lost 2 of the kids we had previously. One moved, and the other is being integrated into the classroom. I have had to deal with 4 different subs in the past 5 days. I've needed a break. But I'll honestly say, I'm ready for some normalcy to return to the classroom.
As a side note, I was supposed to leave this month also. I had been applying to the University of Memphis, I got accepted and passed the Nursing test that was required. They called me this summer and told me that I was in. They then called me back a few minutes later and said that since I had been kicked out of a nursing school before, they couldn't accept me. I see know why that worked out the way it did, but it still hurts.
So that's been my eventful 7 days. I'm ready for things to get back to normal.
We also did book the cruise. Royal Caribbean, I'm excited to see the differences. Don't worry powers you will be informed! :) On that note, I'm going to finish the laundry, pack up dinner, and go curl up with my book :)
School started back on Wednesday, and let me start to tell you how exciting it has been! I knew the EA was going to be leaving, but I had no clue my teacher was going to be taking a medical leave until who knows when.. that means I'm left in the classroom with 7 kids all requiring one on one attention and two subs. It has been an eventful week. But it has also been enjoyable. People have come in and made the classroom look like a classroom. We have bulletin boards up, the schedule has been typed up and made pretty on the wall. We also lost 2 of the kids we had previously. One moved, and the other is being integrated into the classroom. I have had to deal with 4 different subs in the past 5 days. I've needed a break. But I'll honestly say, I'm ready for some normalcy to return to the classroom.
As a side note, I was supposed to leave this month also. I had been applying to the University of Memphis, I got accepted and passed the Nursing test that was required. They called me this summer and told me that I was in. They then called me back a few minutes later and said that since I had been kicked out of a nursing school before, they couldn't accept me. I see know why that worked out the way it did, but it still hurts.
So that's been my eventful 7 days. I'm ready for things to get back to normal.
We also did book the cruise. Royal Caribbean, I'm excited to see the differences. Don't worry powers you will be informed! :) On that note, I'm going to finish the laundry, pack up dinner, and go curl up with my book :)
Monday, December 26, 2011
More updates to the changes 2012 holds
Well a few things have gone on.
Kenneth and I have decided on a floor plan for a house that we like. It would be ideal if we could get another bedroom, but I've looked through so many floor plans, this had more of everything we wanted, than the others. I love the kitchen and how it looks out onto the living room, a big plus! The master is secluded, and has a decent size closet. Its a 2 car garage, and it also has storage space in the back of the garage for my deep freezer I've been wanting. The kids bedrooms are on the same level as ours, but are on the other side of the house. And the washer and dryer place is a room!! :) So now if we can just get certain things to line up, we might be in a house by the end of 2012!
We've also decided that we are going on a cruise for spring break this year. I've traveled on Carnival many times, but I've always wanted to go on Royal Caribbean. I really want to do a 7 day, but I remember how crazy the driving part is. So we opted to do a 5 day. We haven't booked it yet, waiting on hubby to get home to discuss it, but I'm partial to it!
So excited about this upcoming year, and all that it holds! Off to get ready for work, and then when I come home, its taco soup. . it smells so good!! :)
Kenneth and I have decided on a floor plan for a house that we like. It would be ideal if we could get another bedroom, but I've looked through so many floor plans, this had more of everything we wanted, than the others. I love the kitchen and how it looks out onto the living room, a big plus! The master is secluded, and has a decent size closet. Its a 2 car garage, and it also has storage space in the back of the garage for my deep freezer I've been wanting. The kids bedrooms are on the same level as ours, but are on the other side of the house. And the washer and dryer place is a room!! :) So now if we can just get certain things to line up, we might be in a house by the end of 2012!
We've also decided that we are going on a cruise for spring break this year. I've traveled on Carnival many times, but I've always wanted to go on Royal Caribbean. I really want to do a 7 day, but I remember how crazy the driving part is. So we opted to do a 5 day. We haven't booked it yet, waiting on hubby to get home to discuss it, but I'm partial to it!
So excited about this upcoming year, and all that it holds! Off to get ready for work, and then when I come home, its taco soup. . it smells so good!! :)
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