New beginnings...in the middle

It has been a crazy past two days. Amazing the craziness that can go on in such little time! I will not go into the whole story, but there were a couple of happenings that went on to make me consider going back to teaching for real. Not bad happenings. Just happenings. So, I decided to just nonchalantly look into it, which resulted in my applying for a job, which ended up in my grandfather mentioning that the principal at the school is a good friend of his, which lead to him telling me he would talk to her when he is down there tomorrow for a ceremony! In one day, I am back on track for teaching. Literally not even 24 hours.
Of course, this is not to say that the decision has been made. Merely that I am seriously considering it. My biggest "hurdle", or fear, was that my dad would be upset. It was hard to say something to him. I was excited to somewhat "fit in" to his world and admitting that things in my life made me no longer fit in was hard. I was scared he would talk to me like a boss and tell me that I was crazy for wanting to leave this world of new found freedom. I was afraid there would be disappointed mostly. But it was amazing. He recieved my concerns with openess and understanding. He encouraged me to search to find what I needed to do, whether is be teaching or something else. I could not have been more relieved! It was so great to have him support what I was thinking and feeling.
And so here I am..at a crossroads. I am waiting to see how the application to the school pans out-it may be that I end up there or I may not. I am nervous for the outcome.

Publix Round Up-Tuesday the 15th

  I went to Publix today and, OH MAN, was it a good trip!  Here was what I got...

2 boxes of Kix cereal

4 jars of Newman's Own pasta sauce

2 boxes of Healthy Harvest pasta

1 Skintimate Shave gel

2 boxes green giant frozen veggies

2 boxes Stouffers french bread pizza (2 in each box, so 4 pizzas)

Charmin Toilet paper

Twix bar

1/2 lb of turkey

2 bags of grapes

Grand total...

$22.07!!!

I Handed it to Publix and Bi-Lo

  So, I went to the grocery store today-one of my new favorite hobbies.  I am going to be one of those lame people who compiles a list of all the things I got, including a picture, because I am SO excited for my trip today.  Here goes....

2 bags of Check Mix

2 bags of Betty Crocker Instant Potatoes

4 bottles of Ketchup

25 Yogurts

Grapes

4 boxes of Cheerios

2 Publix reusable bags

2 jars of spaghetti sauce

Lysol bathroom cleaner

Pup-peroni dog snacks

Large bag of frozen vegetables

6 packages Kraft cracker cut cheese

2 packages Kraft sliced cheese

2 containers of Lysol disinfecting wipes

Glad wrap

Mayonnaise

Twix bar

My total before coupons: $91.84

But I got all of the stuff listed above for $52.16.

A total savings of 44%!  And this stuff was on sale-if it had not been on sale, my bill would have been WELL over 100!

YAY FOR COUPONS!

My Life Has Been Changed!

    About a month ago, I decided I wanted to kind of give this whole couponing thing a try. I went to a class with my best friend Jessica. We left there thinking that there was no way we could get as good as the ladies who were teaching the class. We left overwhelmed, honestly. I often had to keep reminding myself at the beginning that if I started slow, I would eventually get the hang of it! I kept on clipping and kept on reminding myself to just take it slow. 

    Last week, I went to Publix. My original bill was 48 something. My final bill was 26 something.  I cut it almost in half! When I texted my mom to tell her, she texted back with "It looks like you got the hang of it."  And then it hit me..yes-I DID have the hang of it!  Just taking it slow paid off! Literally! :o)

    I am loving this couponing thing. It has made going to the grocery store a fun time. Yes, I said it-FUN!  It is kind of like a competition. I try to see each week how well I can do.  And, my sister Misty and I have starting getting together each week to kind of map out our strategies-it's been fun to get to hang out with her and catch up every week. We are hoping that others will join us and we can grow our group of couponing gal pals. 

    To wrap it up, couponing has been amazing! If anyone would like to join us and get a "crash course" we would love to have you and help you change your life too!!! :o)

Back to School

Well, in less than a week, everyone will be starting back to school. Everyone but me. If you had talked to me around the beginning of this year, you would think I would be more than happy with school starting without me-I would have thought that too. But the truth is, I am very sad over this.

I am not saying that I don't like what I am doing now. I really am liking it. I actually feel like a normal person who goes to work, goes home, and has a whole evening to cook and wind down. I feel like I have a life for the first time in years.

It's just that it feels like I have moved away or something and life is going to go on without me. Blue Ridge will continue on-people will go about their daily routines and that will be that. It just all feels weird to me.

And on top of that, my best friend Jessica will be back to school. I won't be there to support her and laugh with her. We had so much fun together-the hardest part honestly, is leaving her. It is tough to always have someone there by your side and then be gone from that, even if you chose it.

I wonder if I will find my way back to teaching one day. I would say yes, but I know that it would only be speaking from sadness-it might be that I decide to never go back the longer I am in this job. Who knows what might happen. I just know that I am sad about Monday.

50/50

I was talking to a friend of mine the other day about housework issues I have begun to feel with Adam and I. Basically, I always feel like I do more. It has started to make me feel very angry. When I brought these feelings to my friend, she pulled out a book she used at a conference. There was a ton of great information in there, but the part she pulled out was in the section "Five Threats to Your Marriage." One of the threats was viewing marriage the way that the world views marriage. The specifically related to me, as it pertains to the 50/50 principle.
The world teaches us to do our part-you do half, and I'll do half. But, the problem with this is that's not what God tells us to do. God calls for us to give 100% of ourselves to the marriage all the time. OUCH! Do I give 100% all the time? No way, I don't. Because what happens is I expect Adam to do his half and I plan to do my half. When he doesn't, I get angry-I'm not affectionate, I try to retaliate, and I want to do less. Is that 100%? Certainly not.
My friend went on.... The 50/50 rule is doomed to failure. There is no way it can work. Besides what I mentioned above (that it's not God's plan), it will fail because half cannot be measured. What is half? How can you measure when the other person has done exactly half? The fact of the matter is you can't. It's also doomed to failure because one person will always feel like they are doing more. No matter if Adam busts his butt, something is going to happen that will make me feel like I am doing more. If you were to ask Adam right now, he may feel like he is the one doing more.
And so it comes down to this-Adam and I will be soon working out a better system. And while that is happening, I am going to work on us being more of teammates and getting things done together. And I am hoping somewhere in this process I learn to give something a lot more closer to 100%. I challenge you to do the same.

Updates from the past year...

I hate that it has been so long since I have blogged. I have done a terrible job at keeping up with it. Right after Adam and I got married, I traveled a bit, which was relaxing. But then school started and it all got crazy. Teaching school is busy work!!! :o)

So, to catch up, we got married-we got Greco-we got a new dog,Burgundy- We got a new niece-- I finished school-we bought a house-I started a new job-Adam started a new side job- and life continues to move on. I plan to keep more updated on my blog. Until the next time, here are some highlights from this past year.

It is my plan to keep on blogging and keeping whoever is interested up to speed with out lives. Thanks for reading!