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!

Our new son...

Well, after quite a bit of coaxing Adam, we finally got a dog! His name is Greco. He is a 3 year old, chihuahua/miniature pinscher mix. He is absolutely adorable, and quite a mama's boy I must say. I was a little worried about being able to love another dog as much as I loved Prissy, my pekingnese I put to sleep a year and a 1/2 ago. But it isn't like that. I love him in a different way-he doesn't replace Pris at all. It is so good to have Greco to keep me company when Adam is gone. He is soooo cute and keeps me highly entertained!!!

And...it's over.

Well, it is over. The wedding anyway. Actually, it was over like, 3 weeks ago or something. I am not really on the ball with my blog huh?
Sooo...the wedding was beautiful. Just everything I had envisioned. We had such a great time and it all looked wonderful. The pictures are n the way so that everyone else can see how pretty it was too. Quite honestly, it was just the perfect day.
Adam and I have settled into married life pretty well, I'd say. We are living in Hixson now. Adam is traveling and I am usually going with him-about every other trip---I am not sure that the band life is the life for me. But I DO enjoy getting to see Adam play, so it does make it worth it.
I was afraid I would have lots of trouble adjusting to married life. Although there have been certain adjustments, it has been an easier transition for me that I thought. I won't lie though-there's been a couple of nights I have cried to Adam about missing my family. That part has been tough. But he is understanding, and it makes it better.
All in all, marriage is going quite well and I am LOVING it!

Soakin up the rays....

So Adam and I are in Cozumel. We are officially married and on our most amazing honeymoon. The weather is great and things are so much fun. We have a pimp room and are enjoying every second of it.
The wedding was gorgeous-just what I imagined it to be. I was so touched to see all the people that came out to our wedding.

Ok, back to the sun!