Favorite Things about May

I saw where Ashley at Dancing with Ashley always posts her favorite things from the month. I think this is a great idea. Then, I saw where she is thinking about making it a monthly link-up. I also think that's a great idea. So, I'm going to get a jump start and tell you about my favorite things from the month of May.

 I can't believe May is over. It seems like just yesterday I was posting this picture on Facebook for the start of May.

1. It's my last month of this school year!!!! For the second year in a row, I have been at a new school and in a new grade. Last year was my first year teaching so of course it was new. Then, this year I had to find a new job and start all over again at a new school plus I moved from 2nd grade to 4th grade. I have really liked the school and I love the year round schedule. However, it's getting that time where I'm ready for these students to move on and new ones to come in. I'm very excited about being somewhere 2 years in a row and knowing what to expect and being able to prepare.

That is kind of how I'm feeling right now. Tomorrow is my last day!

2. Getting mail! With so many graduations and weddings coming up, we have been getting a lot of mail that has not been bills or junk. I know I've said it before, but that's always exciting.

 

3. Ashley's wedding! Wedding's are so much fun. Especially when they're for one of your best friends. It was a beautiful wedding. I wish I had more pictures to show you how beautiful.

4. Getting a blog button! I'm trying to navigate my way around this blog world and trying to figure it all out. I knew that I needed a button but had no idea how to do it. Sue at As it Seems (formally Hello, Also I Love You) was kind enough to make one for me. Now, I just need some wonderful bloggers to swap with!

5. My Doppleganger blog! This was a completely random blog, but it is probably my favorite of the month. I laughed so hard when I was writing it. I haven't laughed that hard in a while. If you didn't read it, you should check it out.

6. Crafting! I love to craft. Unfortunately, it can be an expensive hobby. Luckily, this month I had some good excuses to do it. I made invitation ornaments for my friend's wedding and my cousin's graduation. I also made a new summer wreath for our door.

Ornament made from my friend Ashley's wedding invitation.

Ornament made from my cousin's graduation invitation.

Our summer wreath

 I am looking forward to seeing what June has in store for us!

The Start of a Summer Reading List

 

Now there's a view I love during the summer!

One of my favorite things about summer is lying on the beach and reading a good book.

Even though I read all year round, there's just something special about "summer reading."

So, I've been working on creating a summer reading list. It's not very long so far.

Usually, my summer reading list consists of a lot of girly romance novels and maybe an occasional suspense novel.

That's not happening this year. All of the books I have so far are nonfiction.

I've never been a big reader of nonfiction. One of my resolutions was to read more nonfiction. So far this year, that's one resolution I've kept.

I still would love to find a couple of good fiction books to read, but so far here's my Summer 2012 Reading List:

1. Bloom: Finding Beauty in the Unexpected by Kelle Hampton

This is the story of a family whose 2nd daughter has Down's Syndrome. I have heard a lot of people talk about reading this and they have all greatly enjoyed it and been touched by it.

 

2. Orphanology by Tony Merida & Rick Morton

Lee actually has Dr. Merida as a professor and I got to meet him at a conference Lee attended. 

This book teaches the how and why of caring for the orphans.

3. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain

I saw a video where Susan Cain was speaking about being an introvert. It definitely caught my attention because I am an introvert and I feel that introverts are very often misunderstood. 

I'm only number 220 on my library's waiting list for this book so I may not actually get to read it this summer.

 

So, I definitely need more books on my list. Do you have any good suggestions? What are some good books you've read? Have you read any of these?

North Carolina Bucket List

For those of you who don't know, my husband is currently a seminary student which is why we live in North Carolina at this point in our lives. One of the best things about living in North Carolina is that there are so many places to go visit and things to do. There are a lot of great things that are within a day's drive. It is definitely different from living in my home state of Alabama.

We have already visited a few great places since moving up here. A year ago, we went to Washington, D.C. for a few days. Then, a couple of months ago, we went to the Outer Banks. I have also been able to visit the USS North Carolina Battleship and aquarium near Wilmington as well as the Asheboro Zoo.

However, there are still many places I would love to visit in the area. With Lee in the ministry, it's hard to know where we'll be in our future. So, I'd love to experience as much as we can while we're here.

Here's my list of places I'd love to visit while we're in NC. I've divided my list into subgroups.

Places in North Carolina:

1. New Bern

Um...Nicholas Sparks lives here. When you need a good romantic novel fix, nothing's better than a Nicholas Sparks' novel. I guess I hope I could get lucky and run into him or something. :)

New Bern is also full of history because it is a very old city (the 2nd oldest in NC). I have been reading NC ghost stories to my students and many of them take place here. I love places that are full of history.

Pepsi was invented here. I don't drink Pepsi, but it would still be neat to see.

 2. Asheville

This town is in the mountains and any town in the mountains is first and foremost-beautiful. 

Asheville is also home to the Biltmore Estates-America's largest home. I would particularly love to visit the Biltmore at Christmas time.

3. Hunger Games movie tour. 

The Hunger Games was filmed in North Carolina in various places including Charlotte and towns around the mountains.

Places in other states, but still close by:

4. King's Dominion

I love theme parks.

I went here when I was in 6th grade, but I didn't really ride roller coasters then plus I don't remember much about it.

5. Busch Gardens Williamsburg

Did I mention I love theme parks?

I've also been here before. I remember having a great time.

6. Hershey, Gettysburg, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

I've been to Hershey and Gettysburg before, but I'd love to go again. 

I love chocolate and history. 

There's always plenty to do in a big city and Philadelphia is also full of history. Plus it's the city of Brotherly Love.

7. Charleston, South Carolina
We almost met Lee's parents here one weekend, but the plans fell through.
First of all, this city looks beautiful.
Second of all, it's another place full of history.

Probably won't happen anytime soon, but I want to go:

8. New York City

This is not exactly close to where we are, but it's much closer than I was when I was in Alabama. 

I definitely want to visit NYC at some point in my lifetime.

There are many more things that I would love to do in the area. These are just the places that are on the top of my list to visit.

The Last Thing Thursday #8

This will be yet another Thursday that I will be spending entirely at work. The students have a spring concert tonight and I have a lot of work to do plus it's not worth driving home to pretty much turn right back around. My sweet husband offered to come and bring me dinner, though, so that we can spend some time together.

So, here's my Last Thing Thursday written before I head off to work.

The Last Thing I...

Watched: Glee season 3 finale. And I give it a big thumbs down. For me, this was my final season of Glee. I really enjoyed the show during the first season. It was funny and different and I loved the music. Season 2 wasn't as good, but it was still enjoyable. Season 3 was a big disappointment. They've started trying to cram every issue there is into this show from being gay to cross dressing to suicide and domestic violence. The show is supposed to be funny. It's not a drama. Good-bye Glee!

 

Ate: A sugar cookie. Last night, I baked some sugar cookies for our school's volunteer appreciation thing tonight before the concert. One of them completely fell apart so I just ate it. Now, to think of what I want to eat for breakfast....

 

Got in the mail that is not junk or a bill: INVITATIONS, INVITATIONS, INVITATIONS! We have gotten one wedding invitation, one 1st birthday invitation, and five graduation invitations. It's that time of year. I love getting stuff in the mail that's not junk or a bill. It's exciting!

 

Stressed Over: End of the year stuff. I have 6 days left in this school year! My mind is reeling thinking about the things I want to do next year, but I'm trying not to get ahead of myself. I have report cards to finish and all this end of the year paperwork. I have a few meetings to attend. I am also trying to reorganize and clean out the stuff in my room plus I have to move out of my classroom because we're year round and someone else is coming in to use the room I've been in.

Yep...that's pretty much how I feel. I love to use my sticky notes.

Was Excited About: The last 2 weeks in June. The 3rd week of June I am going on a mission trip to the Yucatan Peninsula. This will be my first time out of the country! Then when I get back, Lee and I are driving down to Florida to go to the beach with my mom's side of the family. We used to do this every year when I was growing up, but now that everyone is older we haven't done it in several years.

I don't know if we'll see anything like this, but it was a very pretty picture.

I can't wait to visit those white, sandy beaches and see a beautiful sunset.

Didn't want to do, but I have to: Go to this concert tonight. I'm very thankful for my job and I enjoy it, but they have way too many functions after school hours. That's all I'll say on that....

 

Pinterest...it's what's for dinner...

Have I mentioned that I love Pinterest!?!

I love to use it as my bookmarking system. I would always hate when you found something online and you had to add it to your Favorites or Bookmark It. Then, I'd never remember it was there or I wouldn't add it and then I'd forget where I found it. Pinterest solved that problem. I love how you can organize things into different categories and you can see ideas other people have found. 

It has made my meal planning so much easier. I have tried several of the recipes I found on Pinterest. 

Tonight, we are having Ranch Chicken Crescent Pizza. This is the second time I have made this dish. I love it for 2 reasons: It's easy and it uses chicken. (I've been trying to make more things with chicken than beef).

 

You can find the original post with the recipe here.

Here's my finished product ready to be eaten:

Obviously, mine is not as pretty as hers and I won't cook the crescent roll crust quite as long next time.

Extreme BOGO

So, it's been too long since I've been grocery shopping. 

With Harris Teeter's triple coupons going on, it felt like as good a time as any.

Little did I know that I would rack up on buy and get deals.

Here's what I got:

 

 So, how much did I pay for all of this?

Let me break it down for you.

Goldfish were BOGO. I normally don't buy Goldfish, but they're a fun little snack and they were on sale. 2 bags of Goldfish-$2.39

I bought 3 boxes of Hamburger Helper for $1.29 a piece, but I had a coupon for $0.75 off which was tripled to be $2.25 off. 3 boxes of Hamburger Helper-$1.62

I saw Kraft Pasta Salad and decided to try it for the summer. There was a coupon on the box for $1.00 off when you bought 2 boxes. 2 boxes of Kraft Pasta Salad-$2.98

Doritos were buy 2 get 3 free! I love Doritos, but we definitely don't need 5 bags of them. However, my family is going to the beach at the end of June, so I figured I could save most of the bags to take on that trip to share. 5 bags of Doritos-$8.58

They say when you're couponing never to pay for toothpaste. I have yet to figure out how to get free toothpaste. Toothpaste was on sale for $2.99. I had a $0.50 off coupon which tripled to be $1.50 off. Colgate toothpaste-$1.49

I use Eucerin lotion because I have very dry, itchy skin. Unfortunately, this lotion can be expensive. It was on sale this week for $6.76. Then, I had 2 coupons for $1.50 off. So, I bought 2 bottles. 2 bottles of Eucerin lotion-$5.26 each

Listerine mouthwash is another thing I use that is rather expensive. It was on sale for $3.99 plus I had a $0.50 off coupon which tripled to be $1.50 off. Listerine mouthwash-$2.49

Batteries are yet another expensive thing to buy. AA batteries were on sale for $5.99 plus I had a $0.75 off coupon which tripled to $2.25. I bought 2 packages of batteries. 2 packages of AA batteries-$3.74 each

Pepperidge Farm bread was BOGO. I also had a coupon for $1.00 off 2 packages of Pepperidge Farm bread. 2 loaves of Pepperidge Farm bread-$3.29

Frozen garlic bread was also BOGO. 2 boxes of Cole Garlic Toast-$2.99

Kraft Shredded Cheese was also BOGO. We use A LOT of shredded cheese at our house. So, I had to buy 6 bags of it. 6 bags of shredded cheese-$11.55

My grand total without coupons or any BOGO deals was...$129.74! This is always the worst part-when they ring it all up without any discounts and you're praying that your coupons and deals bring that price down A LOT.

So, I'm standing there while the cashier presses a button and it takes off all the BOGO deals. The price is going down and I'm breathing easier. Next, I hand her my coupons. She scans them and I watch as the price descends even more.  

Finally, my grand total comes to....$64.28 

I saved $65.46!!! Woo-hoo!

As I say every time I blog about couponing, I am in no way an expert at this. I don't spend a lot of time planning and making sure I'm paying as little as possible. I do enjoy it however and I do a little happy dance in my head when I do something great like CUT MY BILL IN HALF!

Happy Weekend!  

The Last Thing Thursdays #7

I couldn't do a "Last Thing Thursdays" post last week because I had to leave right after work to get to the airport. So I'm happy to be back to normal this week.

The Last Thing I...

Watched: The movie Leap Year. Yep, it's definitely one of those cheesy chick flicks that you know what's going to happen at the end, but sometimes you just need to watch those kinds of movies. 

 

Crafted: Invitation Ornaments. I blogged about making these on Tuesday. I got the idea from Pinterest. They make great gifts. I made one from our wedding invitation, one from my friend's wedding invitation, and one from my cousin's graduation invitation.

  

  

 

Pinned:  

 

  via

Who doesn't love getting money as a gift? But it can be so boring to just put it in the card, so why not come up with a creative way to give it like this idea.

Laughed At: My students performing plays. I have 4 groups of students working on different plays to perform at the end of the year. The plays are called "fractured fairy tales." My students are doing a play called Popsicle Boy (The Gingerbread Boy), Goldilocks and the 3 Bullfrogs (Goldilocks and the 3 Bears), The Bremen Town Rappers (The Bremen Town Musicians), and Slurping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty). They're quite entertaining. 

 

Read: Ghosts of the Carolina Coasts. I bought this book when Lee and I were at the Outer Banks. It's full of ghost stories and legends from the coasts of the Carolinas and Georgia. The kids love it. I also find them very interesting. North Carolina is full of history.

 

Rode an Airplane For: Graham & Ashley's wedding. Last weekend, I had to make a quick trip home for my friend's wedding. It was so beautiful and I had a great time.

 

Me with the lovely bride

Received as a Gift: My wonderful bridesmaids' gift from Ashley. She gave us a cute lime green bag with our initial, a personalized hanger, a tank that says Bridesmaid, earring and a bracelet, and a cup with our initial on it.

 

How cute is this personalized hanger and Bridesmaid tank?!? 

 

Teachers can never have too many cute bags and cups!