The First Day of School

Do you remember the night before the first day of school? The excitement of starting a new year has filled me every August since I was 5. I remember having everything ready...new supplies, outfit picked out, and butterflies in my stomach. I have always loved school.

This very day last year, it was the night before my first day of student teaching. Their smiling faces coming in to the classroom reminded me of the simplicity of being six. They were brightly lit, a little nervous, but ever so excited. At 20 years old, I was just as excited and twice as nervous!

The first day of school has a smell- I believe it's probably a mixture of squeaky new shoes, freshly sharpened pencils, and boxes of 64 crayons (sharpener on the back). New school sounds fill the halls, too. The sound of those squeaky new shoes that smell so good; the sound of chatty friends who have lots of (slightly embellished) tales of summer; sniffles from parents as they walk their little ones to their classrooms; bells ringing; and teachers scrambling to get last minute details in order. Good stuff.


Tomorrow, for the first time in 16 years, school will start without me. I can't believe it and I am sort of in denial. Like, maybe, some school will call me at 6 am and say, "We can't start the show without you!" I'm telling you, I'd be there before they could finish that sentence. However, chances are, I will actually be sitting on the couch watching Regis and Kelly as the four surrounding counties (all of which have my resume on file) begin the school year without me.

Job Update and Wedding Excitement!

"The size of your success is measured by the strength of your desire; the size of your dream, and how you handle dissapointment along the way." Robert Kiyosaki



Another week gone by, and still no job. It's August 23rd. One more day and school will be in session-with or without me. As of now it's looking as if it will be in session without me. It'll be OK, though. There is a plan for me-I truly believe this. However, patience in waiting for things to just "happen" has never been my strong point. Regardless, waiting is my only option right now. And the fact that I am not great at waiting is not due to a lack of practice! I have been waiting by the phone and the computer. Just waiting...waiting for the phone to ring or an e-mail to pop into my inbox. I don't care how the news is relayed to me. I just want to hear/read "WE WANT YOU!" Hopefully the upcoming week will provide an answer. Furthermore, it'd be just fabulous if this week provided me with an answer that I'll want to hear! I want this!





The sunshine of this week was our couple's shower on Saturday. My beautiful bride's maids threw us a party! There was great food, a DJ, and we spent the evening with great family and friends. Thank You: Bride's maids for organizing everything; Opal and Gwyn for making the desserts; Shanda's in-laws for loaning us the barn; Tom and Michelle for transporting us and our gift safely home; and EVERYONE who came for our great gifts and taking time to be part of our special night. To the left is a quick picture of me with 4 out of 5 of my bride's maids (Mallory, Shanda, Jessica, and Holly)! (Heather had a game and was missed dearly!) The night went by too quickly!
Moments:
Coolest: I felt like a bride!!
Sweetest: Dancing with my soon-to-be husband
Funniest: Justin dancing! Who knew someone in my family could have moves? He got all of the rhythm!

Before Coupons and VIC savings: 77.43, After: 15.92

Triple coupon week at Harris Teeter is underway! I went at 7:00 this morning because all of the good deal stuff is gone if you wait too long! (I even managed to bribe Sean out of bed with a trip to BoJangles. Who says you can't train men?) Just kidding! Sean was really sweet to get up and go with me!

My total before coupons was $77.43 and after coupons and vic savings, I walked out for only $15.92. I got a ton of great stuff. In case you can't see everything in the picture, here's what I bought: toaster strudels, ziplock bags, Dukes mayo, Hellmans mayo, lots of refrigerated biscuits, bottled water, grapes, cake frosting, cookie dough, hamburger meat, tortilla chips, jam, Comet, Chef Boyardee, ketchup, spaghetti noodles, and tape! There are about 32 items. So, you could look at it as spending $0.50 per item! I love it! I used mostly valid coupons and along with a $5.00 instant savings for buying 15 "General Mills" products. Honestly, so worth the 4 hours I spent clipping coupons and trying to figure it all out!

It's Friday and I have offically made it through my first week "unemployed". However, somehow, I managed to babysit for 12 hours yesterday and I am also booked for tonight! YES! I am so thankful I have had something to do!

Everyone keeps saying "you'll be able to get so much wedding stuff done". Yep, except for the fact that I work ONLY under pressure. Two weeks before the wedding, I will be in action. I am SO not a detailed person. We have the "big picture" of how the wedding will be, but have not really started putting together everything. For example, I picture that we will have music but have NO clue where the music is going to come from. Piano? Guitar? DJ? I keep telling Sean that the next time I get married, I am going to be a GROOM! Most importantly, we are EXCITED! We aren't wrapped up in HOW it's going to happen just THAT it is really happening!!

Funny Story:

12 Midnight: Power out (We didn't realize it at the time)
1:00: I wake up hot. Sean is not concerned.
2:30: Ok. Really HOT! Why is it so hot?
3:30: The fans not running and our alarm clock is off? Ohh. Duh!! The power is out. Check texts- Adam sent one asking if our power was out. Yep, sure was.
4:00: I insist we go to the gas station to get ice for the food in the fridge. Sean is REALLY not happy about the idea.
4:15: Food in cooler with ice. Goodnight
4:30: Power back on.
You really had to be here to truly appreciate the humor :)


Dog sitting this weekend for Tom and Michelle. Griffin is so cute and we are really excited. I am hoping this will help Sean to see that we really NEED a dog!! Job, or no job!

With this ring...

Sean met with Patty (our ring lady) and picked up our rings today. They are B-E-A-UTIFUL! Too bad Sean insists I can't wear it around on a daily basis...

Also met with Shanda and Jessica today to give them the shower list. They are adorable and apparently have a lot of fun stuff planned. They are being very secretive. Sean and I are super excited!!

Off to make breakfast for supper : )

Just GO with it!

The summer is quickly coming to an end. The end of summer brings lots of excitement...such as: Holly's Bachelorette weekend at the beach, moving in with Sean and playing house, and getting very excited that our wedding is just 3 and a half months away. On the flip side, I still don't have a job, but am TRUSTING that there is a method to the madness and that I am exactly where I am supposed to be right now! God does have a plan for me! My new motto is "Just GO with it"!

Back to the moving in...Life is great! Every day I am reminded of how funny, adorable, and sweet Sean is. There is comfort in knowing that I have chosen a wonderful soon-to-be-husband. Just the other night, I caught him flexing in the mirror. When I called him on it, he of course denied it- all the while his ears were turning red and he was trying not to laugh. Again, he has a boyish charm that makes everyday life more fun.

We have been learning eachother's quirks. Sean, for example, has NO idea how to load the washer and he hangs is bath towel all bunched up. EEW! Hahha. Actually, he's just not doing those things the way I do them! It's all about compromise... Now, he's not allowed to start a load of laundry and he has agreed to hang is towel over the bar without folding it. On the other hand, he's informed me that I don't make the bed very well and that I am NOT allowed to iron his shirts. Fair enough...

With the help of Sean's mom and meamaw, I am learning my way around the kitchen. They each send me a couple recipes a week and every time they go on a shopping trip, I end up with some kind of kitchen gadget. This past week, it was a bundt pan. Not really sure what to do with it, but fairly certain those two will send me a few "bundt pan" recipes this coming week :)

Alrighty, im off to make supper and spend some time with Sean! Meeting with Jess and Shanda in the morning to give them the guest list for a shower and discuss details. I am very excited!