Movie in the Park

We had a very last minute Sisterchick get together last night which probably accounted for why only 3 of us could meet, but it was fun nevertheless!

We met at this cool place for a free movie in the park. The featured movie last night was Confessions of a Shopaholic. A very cute, lighthearted movie.

The screen and teeny tiny park. You can see that we didn't have the very best view. Should've gotten there earlier.



Mandy


Kristen


Half of the chicks


About half way through the movie when our backs were aching, we started envying these weird looking pillows our neighbors had that we had previously made fun of!


Funny story of the night:
As we were waiting for the movie to start, an Atlantic Station worker tripped on a cord and pulled it out of the plug. He laughed, all of us around him laughed. It was funny. One of those "Gee, I hope no one saw that" type thing. Of course we all did. He was cool about it.

Fast forward to the middle of the movie. A lady gets up to go to the bathroom (I assume) and trips on the same cord pulling it out of the plug, but this time it controlled the movie! The whole screen went black. Sound stopped. You could tell she wanted to crawl into a hole and die! There must have been 500-700 people there. She plugged it back in and then ran away. They had to start the movie over and fast forward to where we were.

All in all a good time!

Now & Then

I've talked a little bit (ok a LOT!) about how my parents have sold their house and moved into a new one, but my sister did a better recap than me.

Well, they're all moved in. It feels weird knowing that I can't go back to the house I grew up in. The house that I never needed an invitation to and could just walk in and go as I please. It belongs to someone else now. That's a weird feeling! Before we left, though, I snapped some pictures (with my sister's help) of some of the special features of the old house and what those same features look like in the new house.

OLD

NEW


OLD

NEW


OLD

NEW


OLD

NEW


OLD

NEW


OLD (kitchen tile that my brother put up)

NEW


OLD (kind of a weird picture, but its the underside of the mantle. I like it because you can see all the holes from where all the stockings were hung every Christmas)

NEW


Can't wait to for all the new memories that will be made in this house!

Top Ten Tuesday

I know I've been going on and on about my parent's new house, but it's been a major change in our lives! So my top ten list for today is...

TOP TEN THINGS I LOVE ABOUT MY PARENT'S NEW HOUSE:

1. I don't know what they're called, but they have these little windows above the doorways and entries.


2. Wrap around porch. Need I say more?


3. Kitchen island. It's a great shape to move around and it's got an outlet on it too!


4. Downstairs bathroom. Well...just look at that cool sink!


5. Living room ceiling. Just cool.


6. No this isn't a ghost homicide. It's where the POOL is going to go! And they said it should be ready in about 35 business days!! Wow!


7. Entry way to back yard. Just adds a richness to the house.


8. Playground. Yes, I've found myself a few times on the swing! But I like it because it gives "Aunt Staci" a break!


9. Stove/Oven. It's a lot bigger than mom's old oven, so it'll be nice on holidays when we're all trying to heat up our dishes. And the little door on the left is a separate little oven!


10. Kitchen floor. I just love this slate!

Update

I know you've all been sitting on the edge of your seat wanting to know if I've done any of my summer projects.

Well, faithful followers, wait no more! Look at what I've been up to:
I finished the jewelry organizer! I LOVE it! It's great! SO easy to make and really holds a lot of stuff!



Organize files? Check! A whole box of junk down to 2 accordion folders.

Pressure wash my house? I've got the guy lined up and he's supposed to come out this week!

Get on a budget? YES!! I can't believe that I've actually stuck with this! There's still lots of tweaking that needs to be done, but basically I save my receipts and take the money out of one of the categories I've created. I like knowing where my money's going!

Blog more...working on it.

Oh, and just for fun...my new boudior!


This chandelier was actually my grandmother's but it was in my parent's old house. They were just going to leave it, but I grabbed it to put in my closet. I love it! It's so fun going in my closet now!

Something God Showed Me

In church yesterday, I heard a verse that I've heard and read a hundred times before. But for some reason, it jumped out at me in a new way.

Psalm 37:4 (NIV)

Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.

It was almost as if God added another little phrase to it. Maybe just for my benefit. But this is the way it stuck out to me:

Delight yourself in the LORD [where you are right now] and he will give you the desires of your heart.

If I want the "desires of my heart", I have to take delight in where I am right now. It just hit me like a ton of bricks.

Oh God, please help me not to live for the future, but to delight in where You have me right now. Show me what You want me to learn. Use me how You want. It's not always easy to delight in my phase of life right now, but when that doubt and disappointment come, fill me with Your joy!

Memories

I've been helping my parents move all this week. (More to come on that later) It's kind of been a week long process and we're still not done yet! Just kind of doing a little bit at a time.

In the process of packing up, dad found a box in the attic of old checks. Going all the way back to 1988! Dad was happy because this gave him a great excuse to use his shredder. He's a shredder-aholic. So nothing brought him greater pleasure than to sit with his shredder and 29 years worth of checks. I don't know how long he had been doing it but I finished up today.

It was a fun trip down memory lane! I saw a check that my mom had given to me to buy my friend a birthday gift. I could tell because it was in my handwriting. I vividly remember she gave me a set amount and I couldn't go over. I did! Oops! She wasn't happy with me! I also saw checks that were written for my senior pictures and the SAT. It was also fun to see where the checks were written to. Any of you Georgia folks remember these places??:








None of these places are around anymore (to my knowledge) and to be honest I had completely forgotten about them until I was shredding those checks. It's so funny because back then, I totally remember going to those stores. There wasn't anything else. It never crossed my mind that one day they would be a forgotten memory!

June's NEW

Alright...I've officially failed at my new year's resolution to try something new each month. May got away from me with no new thing.

But don't you fret, and don't you frown...I'm picking right back up with June and boy do I have a whopper of a "new" for you!

My new for June is that I have put myself on a budget! Woo-hoo! Exciting, I know. But this is a big deal for me. I don't even balance my checkbook. I basically keep a mental running tab of about how much money I've got and hope there's enough in there by the end of the month! Unfortunately, it has worked pretty well so far, thus I haven't seen the need for a budget. There have been some months I have come terribly close, but I also squeak by!

With my roommate moving out in about a week, I know I can't be squeaking by anymore. I've been to a financial workshop put on by my church. It was really good. That was about 2 years ago...have I done anything with it? Nope.

Then I went to another financial workshop put on by my pastor and his wife. This one was really good. They basically shared with us what they do as a family. They have 3 kids. The main thing they stressed was having a spending plan.

They've basically made categories of stuff that they need to spend money on. There's your basics like mortgage, food, bills, utilities, etc. but they also have categories for other stuff they like/want. Date nights, birthdays, home decor, etc. Every category has a limit. They just keep the receipts and take the money out of the appropriate category. Once the money is gone for a particular category...it's gone!

Sounds simple, but it just makes so much sense to me!

I started a little something like this last year. Right around this time last year, I started putting money away for Christmas every month. By the time it got here, I paid for everything out of cash and didn't have to keep paying for it after Christmas. It was a GREAT feeling!!

So, tonight I sat down and made my categories. Tomorrow is July 1 and I am eager to start my new budget!! I hope it works for me. I hope it makes sense to me. I really hope it's something I can keep up with!

I'll let ya know...

Uneventful

Because I desperately want to update my blog, I'm going to fill you in on my day today. Put your seat belt on because we're about to move at mach speed.

I did not set my alarm last night, so it was nice to wake up and be able to just lay in bed. Granted, I was awake at 7:30 but, hey, that's the life of a teacher.

I finished 2 loads of laundry after I actually got out of bed.

I then finished up some paperwork for Camp Rocks that's been about 3 weeks overdue and paid some bills online.

It was about lunch time after that, but my fridge and pantry have been bare for about a month now. I was out of town for camp one week, then in Hilton Head the week after that, then performing arts camp after that. So for lunch I had some stale saltines with peanut butter on them...and some twizzlers. I know, I know.

Messed around on facebook and then took an hour nap. Nice.

Woke up and messed around again on blogs, facebook, email, etc. while watching Martha Stewart, Rachel Ray, and Oprah.

So here it is 5:07 pm and I'm still in my pj's. It's getting close to dinner and as previously mentioned I have no food. Can't do crackers again, so looks like I'm gonna have to get dressed and go get some food. Yes, I could just order pizza or something else that delivers, but I'm actually craving mexican, so I 'm thinking it's gonna be a Moe's night!