Each Tuesday, Joyce from This Side of the Pond, posts questions and bloggers can answer them. Thanks, Joyce! I need all the blog topic help I can get!
1. Do you feel older or younger than your age? Elaborate.
Joyce, are you trying to get us to state our age? Ha!
I am 52.
I feel younger. I think it’s because I’m a high school teacher and the kids really do keep you young. Sometimes I’m with adults and use teen slang and feel very weird when I realize what I just said.
I don’t think my face or my body look younger, but I think I have a younger style, maybe? I do like Chico’s, though. I have gotten some great basics there.
Also, I am a Surfer Nephew this summer, so they are pretty young.
I keep up with trends and pop culture, too.
2. What’s one thing you should toss right now, but just can’t?
I’m really not having any trouble tossing things this summer so far. I have a project going where I work on a tiny space at a time or a very specific category.
Here is my list:
I’ve done a few more than I have crossed off in this photo. I guess anything of my kids’ childhoods would be hard. I have a Rubbermaid tote for each of them but I need more space now, probably. Also, it’s not super organized.
3. Have you visited many of the 63 National Parks in the US of A? You’ll find a list here. Do you have a favorite? What National Park that you haven’t seen do you most want to see?
I didn’t think I had, but I realized I have gone to more than I thought!
Grand Canyon, Hot Springs, Dry Tortugas, Everglades, Yellowstone, Indiana Dunes, Mammoth Cave, Gateway Arch, Great Smoky, Badlands, New River Gorge, Grand Teton, Glacier National, and I feel like I might be missing one or two from Utah and one from Washington State. I took two pretty amazing trips that knocked many of them out. One was when I was 12 and my family took an Amtrak from Chicago to Seattle stopping at Glacier National on the way and then going through Grand Canyon on the way home. Another was a church trip where we took a converted bus that we slept on all the way to California stopping at lots of places like Grand Teton on the way and on the way back.
4. How often do you get take out? What’s your favorite?
We have been Door Dashing way too much this summer. I guess it only amounts to once or twice a week, but it’s just so easy. I do currently have a 25% off the next two orders (and already used it on one) so that’s good. It’s terribly expensive, but it’s so convenient. I am cooking a lot so when I need a break, it’s nice to order.
Our favorite as a family is Shiraz Mediterranean. We can order two meals and have enough for all four of us.
I would say once a week is the general rule but we go in spurts where we rarely get it.
5. Do you have many (or any) subscriptions? Not necessarily magazines, but thinking more along the lines of boxes or products that companies offer, and you can sign up to receive on a regular basis. Could be weekly, monthly, quarterly, even daily. Tell us about them.
No, we do not. We don’t have anything on subscribe and save on Amazon. I cancelled my Ipsy subscription because I was accumulating too many products and not loving all of them. It was fun for a while, though!
6. Insert your own random thought here.
I’m out of meal ideas! Help! What have you cooked lately? Bonus points if you link a recipe. I feel like I have done all the basics tacos, spaghetti, BLTs to death. I have one kid who is dabbling in vegetarian life and that has also made it challenging.
A recent sun dried tomato shrimp dish that people were meh about. I kept the shrimp off for the one kid.
I’m excited to finally pull back the curtain and share our college experience. I kept the exact college a secret on the old blog (locals may have figured it out) while my twins were there, but since they graduated I am going to tell you everything I can think to tell you about our experience.
I had a lot of fear of my only two kids leaving the nest at the same time and what that would look like – mentally, emotionally, and financially.
I guess it’s hard to see this because I started my blog when my twins were 16 and I have tried to make my blog about me and not them to respect their privacy (remember when I only used an initial instead of their names?), but I loved momming so much. Being a mom was my dream and it was everything I wanted and more. I really could hardly think about the college years because it made me so sad. I hope that makes sense and is relatable to someone out there.
I hope this post helps you if you have kids approaching college age!
First, yes it’s so stupid that college costs so much.
We were told we had to fill out the FAFSA or the college wouldn’t give any money for academic scholarships. It’s all about the FAFSA. Also, it’s all about the parents’ income. Tom was in charge of FAFSA each year, thankfully.
Many kids should not go to college and it’s silly that we are basically shaming kids if they don’t. You might be surprised to hear a high school teacher say this. I want to normalize kids choosing other paths. There are so many types of smart and we have kids that are bored to tears with the high school curriculum we force upon them. When we took away vocational education we made a big mistake.
Please be ok with your kids choosing a technical school or an apprentice training program.
Please don’t be ok with $200, 000 in student loans that will seriously affect your child’s life for a long time.
Look for the programs your state offers – mine is now offering free junior college. Your kids’ guidance counselors are very busy, but they have a lot of knowledge. Email them or better yet have your kids make an appointment with them. They need to be a bit pushy to get time with them but it should pay off.
We were able to take advantage of state money by staying in state for college. My kids accumulated $6000 for good grades and ACT score. See what incentives your state has.
So, junior year we started talking about college and which ones we wanted to visit. We pretty much told our kids they would have to stay in state unless an out of state school matched the money they could get by staying in state. Neither of them seemed upset by this. If they had felt strongly about a certain school in another state, I think we would have been open to looking. In fact, I think some kids can’t handle not having boundaries. It overwhelms them. There is nothing wrong with giving your kids a radius or a few states to choose from.
I tell my students that they are going to love anywhere they go because it’s college! You can have a great experience at a lot of schools! If it comes down to two schools, go with the one that will set you up the best financially for your future. Also, it doesn’t make sense to pay for Harvard for a teaching degree where you are only going to make $50,000 a year as a beginning teacher. Just my two cents! I also tell my students that no one ever asks where I went to school when I am in a professional setting. After you have your first job, no one really cares in my opinion.
So, back to our story. March of 2020. My kids were seniors and they had just received their scholarship packages. One applied to three schools and one applied to four schools, I think? Each of them had at least one big state school and one or two small liberal arts schools. Remember that the state schools are not hurting for students, but the smaller schools might be and they can be more generous with alumni money. We even got more scholarship money for just stepping foot on campus for an in person tour. It’s crazy. It’s like buying a used car to some degree! I learned quickly to not scoff at $1000 because it all adds up. I don’t throw away dollar bills, you know? One of my kids got additional money for the music department and one got money for participating in a scholarship competition. He didn’t win but everyone got an extra $1000 of academic scholarship money and $1000 to put toward study abroad. See, this all adds up!
I should also give you some background information and say that my kids did really well in high school – 11 and 9 AP classes respectively and one was one of the valedictorians with a 4.0 at graduation (our school has like 50 or more valedictorians, by the way). Hard work in high school really does pay off financially. Yes, their mom is a teacher, but remember that these little things arrived into the world at under 3 pounds each and 10 weeks early and we were told they might have learning disabilities due to prematurity.
So, March of 2020… pandemic arrives. My kids are seniors. We hear from our district that we are going home on March 13th and we don’t know when we will be back. We stay home for two weeks and don’t do much and then we have spring break…during this time, one of my twins came to me and said I think I know where I should go. He didn’t tell his twin. I didn’t tell his twin. A week later the other twin comes to me and says his decision. I let the cat out of the bag that they both had picked…
I didn’t feel like my kids were large university kids. I felt like they needed the smaller class size and attention so I couldn’t have been happier with their decisions. And, the fact that they both chose the same school made me happy and frankly made it easier on us to only have one set of information coming our way. And, sending your kids to college in the fall of 2020 – well, let’s just say the close to home situation made life easier in lots of ways. We were told all the Covid protocol and that added to the mix of my emotions – not only was I sending my only kids away to live at college at the same time, but during a global pandemic.
They were not going to room together and they were going to live on campus so this made me happy so that they would have the full experience even though they would be close to home (That turned out to be true – they never roomed together. But, senior year one did move home because the dorm situation was not a good one and it wasn’t worth the high price of the suite they assigned.)
Ok, so here’s the deal. My kids went to this school for less money than they would have paid the big state university. I also knew that if we did have a financial hardship living at home was an option. This school is about 20 minutes from our house in the same city, by the way.
Just remember that you can have the same experience close to home but you have to stay on campus and treat it like you are farther from home. And, you have to get involved and not go home on the weekends, but this is true no matter how far away you go.
By being close to campus, we were able to go see plays and concerts and some things during the week that we wouldn’t have been able to if they were farther away.
So, school starts in August of 2020 and all the pandemic precautions were in place. We had to wear masks and fill out a health screener for move in day. The classes were in person, online, or hybrid. With this climate, again, I was so happy that my kids were close to home. I was so worried for kids that had to be quarantined in special houses near campus. Do you remember all this? Then, they had to have vaccinations and they held them on campus. They had to show their card and get the booster eventually. I don’t want to turn this into a Covid blog post, but I will say that Tom and I both talked multiple times how we felt so much better with them being close and how their small college handled the horrible situation. They got really creative and still did so much for the students.
So, over the four years, we actually got to meet some professors at different events. They knew us by name and greeted us. We would run into them at restaurants near campus sometimes. We couldn’t believe how much any and every Bellarmine employee seemed to love their job. We were able to make phone calls to campus housing, financial aid, student accounts when we needed to and everyone was always just so nice.
The way payment worked for us:
We had some money saved in a 529 and used most of that up the first year. We wanted to have more, but we just didn’t. That really helped us to have that money for the first year as we were figuring it out, though. Twins ain’t cheap, y’all, but it’s just a different way of paying than one kid goes, then the next a few years later! After that, our kids had to sign all of their scholarships online saying they accepted them and understood the terms (had to maintain a certain GPA, for example), then we got a total for just that semester. So, Fall of 2021, for example was $6500 including tuition and room and board. You can pay in full or have it broken into monthly payments. I did monthly payments where it automatically came out of my checking account. I had two different monthly payments coming out each month and these amounts added up to more than our monthly mortgage payment, as you can imagine.
We also had them take out a small loan of $5000 a year so they would have some “skin in the game”. They were able to sign up for a program that matches your loan repayment amount as long as you are making under $40,000 upon graduation. We are going to help them set up a plan to automate these loan repayments and take advantage of “free money”.
Other than that, they have no additional debt and we have no additional debt.
Whew, it’s hard to believe their four years is over and they now have a piece of paper that says they did it!
If you have any questions for me, let me know. I hope this post has helped somebody out there that feels like I did.
I will tell you that 2020 and 2021 were really hard for me because my whole world changed. Pandemic, kids left for college, I taught from home and had to learn a whole new way to do my job…
Some of you have been around to witness all of that!
I think over the four years Tom and I grew closer and I actually grew closer to my kids, too! So, there has been so much good with this stage of life that it’s hard to be sad. I’m still trying to figure out how I’m old enough to have college graduate kids!
I’m linking up with Sarah and Holly for Hello Monday and with the gals at Share Our Lives for their theme “Day in the Life – Summer Edition”. Lots of linking up today!
So, first for the weekend…
Thursday was 4th of July and it was really lame at my house. Mason was at a party, Jack didn’t feel well and went to bed early, and Tom went to bed at 8:15! He still had to work Friday and was extra tired from the night before, I think. Lame, I tell you! But, before this we had a day of storms and I just read my books and piddled around. Mason and I tried to go to a little 4th of July market, but it wasn’t set up yet. For dinner we had hot dogs, baked beans, and mac and cheese along with a side salad. Oh, and Tom and I watched Unfrosted and we both really liked it!
Mason, “Mom, I don’t think this is a thing”
We had these really good hot dogs from the butcher case at Fresh Market.
Friday was a normal work day for Tom so I got him out the door and then we had to take a car in the shop, pick up groceries, and do a few chores. Mason and I went to lunch after dropping off the car.
Friday night we picked up the car and then we used up all of the week’s leftovers and all had something slightly different. Yay! That made me so happy!
Saturday morning Tom paddle boarded on the river beside our friend who was practicing his swimming for the Iron Man.
I tried to learn more about how to be chic..
while it just came naturally for Eddie Otis…
Then, I took EO down to meet Tom when he got off the paddle board and then we pretty spontaneously decided to take the boat out and called some spontaneous friends, too!
We at lunch at Captain’s Quarters and then…
Best foto of the weekend… I only wish Tom would cradle me in the water like this…
We went in around 4:00 and Door Dashed some sushi and a chicken teriyaki bowl with our kids.
Screenshot
I finished up Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders and I actually cried in a couple of the episodes. I thought it was really well done and it gave me an interesting peak into something I knew very little about.
I decided to give up on Our Lady Jane but Tom is finishing it – I sometimes am reading while he has it on. I’m so lost.
I realized Friday night that I really need to be asleep by 10 because puppy is ready to go at 6 am. Mason had him sleep with him Friday night and I woke up Saturday feeling like a new person! Also, the humidity broke overnight and it felt so nice! Yes, we are probably doing the puppy training all wrong.
And, Sunday, we had another boat day with some other friends and just hung in the cove. It was so nice!
We were pooped and got home around 4:00 again. I made dinner and showered. Whew! So much summering this weekend!
And, now for a Day in the Life…
I will be doing a day in the life of Summer Amy, by the way…
I get up anywhere from 5-6:15. If I had my dream summer schedule I would get up at 7:00 but it’s just not that season for me right now.
I feed Eddie Otis and then we go to the patio.
I read my devotional and a few blogs and then if I am able I go ahead and finish up my post for the next day.
Tom leaves for work around 7:40 if it’s a weekday so we see him off (he usually does a quick playground walk with EO – we have an elementary playground behind our house and can do a lap around the school with our dogs pretty easily) and then I usually take EO inside and we do a few kitchen chores – straightening up or whatever needs to be done.
Then, we take a neighborhood leash walk and I listen to podcasts or talk on the phone. This is usually 8-8:30 or maybe a bit longer.
It looks like we are out in the country but this is my neighborhood which is less than 10 miles from downtown Louisville.
We go back home and pup is tired and hot. This is when he naps in his dog wash in the mudroom.
I do more chores and make my breakfast. Some days I go to the patio to eat but I go out my bedroom door so I don’t wake the sleeping puppy!
I often do some food prep for dinnertime in the morning, too.
Now I go shower and get ready for the day – sometimes that is swimsuit and coverup, sometimes it’s keep on the bike shorts and big tee, and sometimes it’s a little nicer errand running/eating lunch out attire.
I usually try to take EO out again and play with him when he wakes up around 9:30 or 10.
Then, he is either with one of my kids or he gets crated for a little bit. He is usually in major need of crate time by now and acting kind of crazy. We have found he gets overtired and acts crazy.
My first errand is often to drop off donations from my 40 bags project – feels so good to do this!
This day I also stopped at CVS and got one polish, Elf brow pencil, and a detangler brush.
I also got some day old bread from Jimmy John’s!
Now, I make my lunch and eat outside or inside depending on the humidity. EO is much better behaved outside. If I stay inside he gets more bitey and needy, I think. Outside he has lots to look at!
He usually takes another nap from 2-3 or 4 and then we go outside again before I start dinner.
I start dinner at 5, Tom comes home at 5:45, EO gets a playground walk, and then we eat. This particular night we had a zucchini pasta with chicken.
After we eat and the kitchen is clean, I take my shower and then I watch tv in the basement where it’s nice and cool. Tom and I have eaten together and then watched a show so we have spent time together. Our kids are living back at home and they are home for dinner some nights and some nights one or both are gone.
Tom and EO go to bed at 8:30 and I follow around 9:30-10. I want to stay up later, but usually nothing good happens. I start wanting to snack and I feel like crap the next day!
And, that’s it! It’s pretty boring and routine, but that is my life right now. The puppy factors into pretty much every aspect of my life. I do think it’s good for me to get out once a day right now to enjoy that freedom that summer allows and so I will be fresh for EO. My kids are a really big help, too, but this is generally the routine.
Did you survive the 4th? I am happy to link up with Andrea and Erika today to share some favorites of the week!
As usual, my favorites are all over the place, but hopefully there is a little something for everyone! And if there isn’t, I guess my blog isn’t for you! What is wrong with me lately?
Here we go…
I was able to find this creamer again and I love it! It’s so summery tasting to me. I have tried to quit creamer, but I just can’t. I don’t use any sweetener in my coffee besides this, so that’s good, right? I finally changed the batteries in my frother and boy am I frothy again.
I tackled my Tupperware! I am doing a declutter challenge, in case you haven’t heard. What do you call these containers? I guess I call all of them Tupperware like I call all bandages Band-Aid. I am more likely to call all soft drinks Coke, too. We actually have a Tupperware brand store in Louisville. I love these meal prep containers, but should I be using Pyrex or glass? I just don’t see me transporting those to school.
I’m enjoying my three little Trader Joe’s candles. This raspberry and roses is my fave. I love their cute little tins, too.
Mason and I took an hour road trip to see my family and I enjoyed our conversation – especially on the way home. Mason was feeling quite chatty. Eddie Otis was so good in the car and here he is on my mom’s porch:
Do not buy these if you don’t want to eat too many! So good! They remind me of a candy from my childhood, too, but I can’t think of what it was – maybe those peanut shaped candies that were flaky and had peanut butter? My Dad loved peanut butter and so do I. My Dad used to say that it didn’t get much better than peanut butter on a saltine cracker. He used to eat them in front of his radio shows and that was when saltines came with four crackers attached in a tin can. My blog is so weird. You just never know where my brain is going to take you.
I enjoyed some patio reading time this week. I find that even in the 90s it doesn’t feel that bad under my patio overhang. I’m so lucky to have a fan, too.
My style this summer has been graphic tees or dresses. I realized what trend I apparently am following:
It’s called Surfer Nephew:
There’s Coastal Grandmother, Coastal Aunt, and now Surfer Nephew. Ummmmkayyyy…
Who comes up with this stuff? I guess Alison Bornstein who I follow on Instagram.
I bore myself by how much I talk about the grocery. But, I received this email:
Thanks, Walmart Plus! I have saved 3 hours and $49 apparently? So, this week I had a Walmart delivery and I went to Trader Joe’s for just a few things.
This is cute:
I was able to watch it one afternoon this week while Eddie Otis was napping. Have you seen it on Netflix?
I am trying to watch this but it’s got some weird fantasy elements so it’s not holding my attention that well. It’s on Prime.
I just started this:
Our 4th was weird. Tom was technically off but went to the office for a few hours and then Home Depot.
I wanted to go to a market and it was a bust. It was supposed to start at 10 and we got there at 11 and it wasn’t set up. It might have been pushed back for our yucky weather?
Anyway, we went in the food hall and got some donuts and sat outside and had a few bites!
For lunch, I made us Jimmy John’s (fake) with the day old bread I had gotten on Wednesday.
I froze most of it!
I am really into veggie sandwiches with this cream cheese as a base. I just pile on the veg and it’s so good to me!
I got to read on the patio but soon heard thunder!
And, it stormed and stormed for a few hours. Then, the storms brought even more humidity! Oh well!
I let myself order two books and spent some time reading them yesterday:
They are really short and just for fun. I love stuff like this and my library didn’t have them. Get ready to see me turn into the most Chic Summer European Amy you’ve ever seen! Ha! Wait, can I be Chic if I’m a Surfer Nephew? Ok, I will be the most Chic European Summer Surfer Nephew you’ve ever encountered. I’ve got my work cut out for me.
It’s the same print as my black and white dress, by the way.
I am currently reading:
I really like it! I just haven’t had much time to read lately.
I am going to have to bite the bullet and order a few summer books that either I can’t find at my library or that will take too long and no longer be “summer reading” by the time they get to me. That’s ok. I save so much money by using my library.
I am buying:
100 Ways to Live a European Inspired Life by Fiona Ferris
Some years I go to the store and look for red, white, and blue inspo. Some years I do a red, white, and blue charcuterie. This year I’m just feeling the summer foods, I think!
I will be back tomorrow with Friday Favorites!
Baby, you’re a firework! Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!
I love this Currently link up with Jenn, but I may sound like a broken record with my answers if you are a regular reader! Oh well… here we go!
Loving
The cool mornings of this week. I make myself start my day on the patio even when it’s humid but these cool mornings have been so nice. I needed a hoodie! I really think starting my day on the patio sets my whole day up in a good way and I know it’s good for the puppy, too.
I was telling someone that I can’t have my patio pillows and decor up this summer because the pup gets everything, but it’s been nice to not worry about it at the same time.; I think I’m a wannabe minimalist. On my patio, I have my 6 top table and my sectional with coffee table and use both of them daily. I really am not using my upper patio this summer because I want to encourage the pup to roam the yard and he will be wherever I am.
I am also loving a road trip that Mason and I took yesterday (Eddie Otis, too!). My sister was visiting my mom and I came as a surprise and my other sister came as a surprise, too! It was even a surprise to me! My family really likes surprises, so much so that we wonder if there will be a surprise! We had 7 of the 9 grandchildren present.
Since my mom didn’t know we were coming, I brought Hawaiian buns, a cheese tray, ham, and turkey and a box of chips to help with all the kids’ appetites!
My two Indiana nieces did a fake senior picture with the Indiana sweet corn my Indiana sister brought for us to take home…
Lena:
Mia:
Silly! We just hung out and talked and it was a nice day!
By the way, I live in Kentucky, one sister lives in Ohio, and the other lives in Indiana!
Looking forward to
I’m looking forward to more of the same summer activities! I am planning to get serious about my Summer List and make sure I accomplish what I want to accomplish. What a privilege that I get to do this. It’s not lost on me. I am hoping for more river days, more pool days, more happy hours, more breakfasts and lunch out, and more summer meals that I cook, too. What is a summer meal you have recently cooked?
Savoring
I am really savoring the slow mornings, the open days, and summer in general! I have friends who pack their calendar – but I love keeping my calendar open for things that come up.
Celebrating
I am not sure what we are doing for 4th of July – if it’s nice we will boat and if it’s not so nice we might go to a community event for a bit. We don’t really have a tradition. I do plan on having hot dogs on the 4th! Tom loves the Fresh Market hot dogs so I plan to get those today. I already bought buns, baked beans, and mac and cheese and I will probably do a grilled peach and feta salad that sounded good. And, now I want to make my corn on the cob!
I am also celebrating doing well on my 40 bags list! I am finally finding the motivation to really tackle my clutter. I just did my silverware and bought new silverware trays (used my Walmart Plus to get them delivered) and my messy cabinet above my microwave. I got rid of 20 candles! I was just using it as a catch all and it was bad.
Here’s what I think is motivating me – we need to be pretty minimalist with the new puppy (just like on the patio) and I want our spaces to be easier to keep clean. I am asking myself if I used it in the past 90 days or if I think I will in the next 90. I am also asking myself if I would buy that item again today for things like home decor items. And, finally, I have a CVS, Walgreen’s, and Kroger a stone’s throw away and can easily replace anything that I might need. I have a Target a little bit up the road along with a TJ Maxx and a Homegoods! I have Costco! I also have Walmart and Amazon!
Here is my list:
I have added new things, too. I am happy to say that now I have many categories crossed off.
And, one more tip – I am immediately putting the donation bags in my car and taking them to donate. I am also throwing away some things away that aren’t fit for donation.
This is helping me to not shop out of boredom or for an activity, too. I am letting myself shop for new kitchen towels, new glassware (after I go through the cups). That is also very motivating for me.
I think that if you make it to 20 years of marriage you should be able to register for wedding gifts again! Anyone? Ha! Seriously, so many of my housewares are really, really old.
Remembering
I guess I am remembering all the fun summers of the past. I had so much fun!
Zoo Visits:
Pool Days:
And, I think I am also remembering to be a kid at heart this summer! Get in the pool! Read! Be spontaneous! Say yes! Have fun! Be silly!
I’d love to hear what you are up to currently, too!
This is not rocket science, but I thought it was post-worthy. I had to take my car in to get an oil change and a tire rotation and I decided to make it something enjoyable, too.
I could have asked someone to meet me, but I also relish some outings on my own, so I kept it just me.
Lucky for me that the car place is in an area that is walkable to a few places.
I dropped off my car:
I had a 9:00 a.m. appointment so I walked to Biscuit Belly. It was going to be a hot one, but it still felt pretty good outside so I opted to sit on their patio.
I brought my planner, a notebook, and my book. I love drinking out of a real mug!
I rarely go out for breakfast so it was a treat. I didn’t love what I ordered, but oh well.
I worked on my 40 bags list, my schedule for the week, sent a few texts, and then I just read.
I sat there for about an hour and then the stores surrounding opened at 10:00 and I did some shopping.
I went in Lotsa Pasta which is a gourmet market:
I went in a little boutique, too.
My car was ready around 10:30 and I was headed back home.
I felt like I had a fun little adventure and it was good to get out that morning!
Do you turn errands into outings? Could you? So much of life is about perspective, right?
I can’t believe it’s July 1st! But, I had a really good and really full (or as full as I wanted it to be!) June if I look back on it. I have about a month left of summer before I start my professional development and classroom set up. I need to look at my Summer List and do a halfway post on the blog, too. And, of course, I need to get on those goals I haven’t yet accomplished.
I am happy to link up with Sarah and Holly to share my weekend with you all today!
Thursday was a great day and I already talked about it on Friday Favorites, but I like to include it in the weekend..
I went to Myriad Swim Club with my friend Victoria for free. They had a teacher promotion in June and we were lucky to snag a spot. It was so fun and relaxing. We really should have gotten PD credit, right?
I went home and that night we ordered pizza because I had cooked 4 nights in a row. I like to save my take out for when I need it and not a specific day of the week. Our favorite good (read expensive)pizza right now is Parlour and we Door Dash it. Look at me using my wedding china again.
Friday morning was simply beautiful and I took a picture to remember how happy summer mornings make me. This was a non-humid breezy morning and Eddie Otis was chill and let me do my blog reading! He is getting more independent in the yard which is great! But, don’t worry, the humidity came back in full force Saturday and Sunday mornings! I opened the door Saturday morning at 4:30 am and it hit me like you wouldn’t believe.
Friday morning I roasted one side of this sheet pan with sweet potatoes and red onions and just basic spices and the other side with taco seasoning for that night’s dinner.
I went into Kroger for a big (pretty big) shopping trip for the first time in about a month. In June, I used Kroger pick up once and Walmart Plus delivery the other times. They’ve moved things around and added higher shelves that I can’t reach and yeah, I’m not missing out by not shopping in person. I did see two students so that was nice!
It took forever to unload and put things away and then I was out of steam.
Eddie Otis and I went outside again and I think he winked at me?
My bestie when it gets hot. I even use it on my patio:
Since we had ordered pizza the night before, I made burrito bowls for dinner.
And, I tried the mint chocolate chip Yasso bar and it’s delightful, too!
I haven’t tried cookies and cream yet.
Saturday morning I had the puppy out of the house (Tom takes him to swim in the river most weekend mornings) and I cleaned and mopped. I guess I took this photo yesterday morning and it didn’t look as good anymore!
Then, we went to Costco on our way to our friends’ pool for a Class of 1990 pool party. There were four couples who were able to attend that all live in this area now from my high school class. This is the pool of my friend Beth from Host It Notes!
The bartender (Mike, Beth’s husband) with Beth’s beautiful charcuterie tray:
She has also started a side charcuterie business and makes grazing tables!
And, these are the only photos I took because it was so hot and I was in the pool the whole time!
We had catered bow tie pasta and sandwiches and I brought a lemon feta arugula orzo salad.
We were the first to arrive and the first to leave. You have to keep them wanting more! But, we were there for almost 5 hours and I was so tired on the way home and when we got home. We watched the first episode of Season 3 of The Bear with our kids while we had a dinner of leftovers and random things. The episode was weird and I didn’t love it. Also, I have started Our Lady Jane on Prime and Tom is getting caught up to me to see if he likes it. And, my kids are watching How I Met Your Mother while I sleep. They usually ask me if I want to watch it way too late and then I fall asleep!
Sunday morning I got to sleep in! It was really nice and I needed it! What does sleeping in look like? I think I made it to 6:45?
Then, Eddie Otis and I sweated on the patio through the humidity!
We went inside and I guess he put himself in timeout. He loves the cool tile but this time it looked like he was staring into the corner.
I am so proud of myself for cutting down on food waste! I cut up salad fixings and put them in Tom’s snackle box.
I always have to remind myself that my energy happens in the morning and I need to to do stuff like this when I have that energy.
Tom and I asked a few people to go out on the boat but they all rejected our offer so it was just us – and Eddie Otis!
Wet boy:
He is really filling out his life jacket now!
I picked up Jimmy John’s on the way to the boat:
Our boy swam quite a bit!
We had a nice few hours relaxing in the cove.
We got home around 3:00 and I showered and read my book. I’m really enjoying it! Boy, my summer reading requests better start coming in at the library or I may be forced to purchase some!
We watched The Bear Season 3 episode 2 with our kids and we ate dinner together. And, that’s a wrap on our weekend!
It’s Friday and that means it’s time to link up with Andrea and Erika to share some things that made me happy this week!
I am working on decluttering – finally getting the motivation to start on this. One of the things I donated were our really old plastic Target plates and my Pioneer Woman plates that you’ve seen in so many photos. I plan to get some new plates, but in the mean time I am using our white Pottery Barn plates and our wedding china that is almost 24 years old and only been used a few times.
Tom and I chose this:
We knew that we didn’t want anything super fancy and I think we chose well. I still like it. It is dishwasher safe, too.
I really cooked a lot this week – Sunday night we had blackened fish tacos with mango salsa.
Monday we had Greek bowls with roasted vegetables:
Tuesday we had spaghetti:
Wednesday we had chicken, broccoli, and homemade potato wedges, but no photo.
I also did a chocolate Bundt cake with chocolate icing:
By Thursday night I was tired of cooking and we ordered pizza!
We got some amazing rain Tuesday and Wednesday. It poured and poured!
In getting ready for the 4th of July, I picked up these Waterloo – yum!
And, Kroger gave me a sample of this Liquid IV flavor in my last pick up and it was so good, so it was just a matter of finding it in a store – I found both of my red, white, and blue products at Walgreen’s!
Things We Never Got Over started to drag for me. It’s a really long book and I feel like I know what’s going to happen, so…
I started the next one and it’s so good so far! It goes into detail of characters that played small roles in the first one.
So, here is my declutter plan:
This is hard to do with a puppy underfoot, but I’m trying to use the times he is asleep to tackle certain areas. He comes running when I open the kitchen towel drawer and steals a towel. He comes running when I open the aluminum foil/baggie drawer and grabs a baggie. He also steals things from the fridge when it’s open – he has tried to pull out a wine bottle and he has stolen a potato.
I usually lose interest and never finish the list, but so far I am being ruthless. I’m kind of using this rule – if I haven’t used it in 90 days and don’t see myself using it in the next 90 days it has to go.
I’m already enjoying the space I have now that certain drawers and areas aren’t so stuffed full.
Have you all tried Yasso bars? I tried my first in the cookie dough flavor and it is so good! I can’t wait to try some other flavors.
I had to laugh at Eddie Otis playing with his margarita and his chili pepper. You know you are the puppy of a Spanish teacher when…
He also has a giant taco dog toy!
This has been my uniform – bike shorts, t-shirt, sneakers for morning walks and working around the house.
And, yesterday I had a really fun day with my friend Victoria. The Myriad Hotel Swim Club has had free Wednesday and Thursday for teachers this month so we took advantage of the deal! Victoria is a French teacher.
It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed chatting for a few hours. We had a couple of drinks and lunch there.
And, Eddie Otis and I had nice morning walks this week, too!
It’s Thursday and the most fashionable day of the week! I’m linking up with Kellyann and Jill to share what I’ve worn over the last week.
I went to dinner with my girlfriends at a steakhouse that happens to be in my favorite outdoor mall and I went early to shop in Ulta and Loft.
I wore my new Walmart Free Assembly dress again! This time I paired it with my metallic gold wedge sandals. This dress has pockets and I found out they did some other styles of dresses in this print and a blouse, too. The Walmart website is seriously one of the worst so it’s quite hard to find things. But, the dresses I have gotten are seriously just as good quality as the dresses I see in my little local boutiques. I do want to support them, but their dresses start at $68 and go up to $200 plus.
Loft selfie:
I did not buy anything, but they had some great sales going on. There are so many teachers who shop at Loft that I’m getting worried about looking like every other teacher.
Saturday farmer’s market outfit:
I wore my Old Navy linen shorts with my East Coast graphic tee from Old Navy.
Saturday night brewery ‘fit:
I wore my other pair of Old Navy linen shorts, a consignment J. Crew blouse, my gold lace up sandals.
Sunday lazy day of reading ‘fit:
I wore my Aerie gauzy shorts with my Old Navy cityscape tee and my Target silver Birks. I did run out to do a return in the afternoon in this outfit, too.
My return was to Old Navy. I ordered a t-shirt and wanted it bigger (not sold in stores) so they re-ordered it for me – I will show it to you when it arrives and if I keep it. While I was there, they had a table of $8 graphic tees and I picked up this “Paradise” tee mainly because of the hot pink in it. Then, I wore it the next day.
Car Service Appointment ‘Fit:
Sorry I didn’t get a better photo, but I wore my long white gauzy skirt with my paradise tee, raffia sandals, and my new summer tote. I dropped off my car and walked to breakfast where I took this bathroom selfie.
While I was walking to breakfast, a lady rolled down her window to tell me how beachy I looked. Ha!
My mysterious fourth dress from Walmart showed up! I had originally ordered 4 dresses about 2 weeks ago. I kept the black and white from the first photo, returned the other two, and then I think I am keeping this one. I just love kelly green so much!
The reason why I say I “think” I’m keeping it is that I just need to try it on with proper underpinnings to make sure the fit is good.
This is kind of fashion? I picked up some summer nails in fun colors at Ulta and Walmart (neighborhood market – just the small store with mostly food):
Wish list item:
These are the Vejas I’m thinking about getting! They are super pricey but I plan to wear sneakers er’day as the kids say. Is the velcro controversial or infantile? I remember the first person who got velcro tennis shoes in my small hometown. It blew our minds. What is this sorcery? You mean you don’t have to tie your shoes anymore?
It’s the summer of the dress and graphic tee over here for me.
Coffee and Cocktails at the Casa 