4th of July Weekend

We had a wonderful 4th of July weekend full of family, fun & food!! John David's parents and sister came in on Friday evening! We kicked off the weekend with Homemade Pizza and Cheese-Stuffed Garlic Breadsticks! They also brought fresh picked raspberries from their farm and fresh North Carolina blueberries! Yum!!

My 4th of July breakfast:

Raspberries, Blueberries & Strawberries

On the 4th we did a little shopping and then came home and cooked a wonderful All-American meal of Grilled Hamburgers, Baked Beans, Sweet Potato Fries & Potato Chips! We didn't buy any fireworks but we did step outside for a little while and watch the fireworks some of our neighbors were shooting off! (That's makes for a frugal 4th of July!!)

Burgers on the grill!

Sunday we went to church, stopped by Taco Express for lunch and had Super Nachos (John David & I split the nachos!)! Yum!

Super Nachos

Sunday afternoon was lazy (with naps) followed by the Church Picnic & Fireworks! We had a great weekend!

As you can tell we took no pictures of people...just the food! Ha!

100,000 Miles

Sunday afternoon we drove down to Birmingham because friends from Cherry Grove Baptist (where John David grew up) were down there for World Changers. We enjoyed the nice Sunday afternoon ride and really enjoyed spending a few hours with friends!

On the way home we realized that we were going to hit 100,000 on our Escape! I was so glad that John David grabbed the camera before we left & excited that we were going to get to celebrate 100,000 together!

We have a 2002 Escape that my daddy bought me after I graduated from high school & received a full-ride scholarship (we had struck a deal that full ride = new ride!!) We bought it in June 2005 and it had 39,000 miles on it! So in the past 4 years I/we have put 61,000 on it! This car took me all across the great state of Tennessee while I was a state FFA officer, I got my first speeding ticket in it and I made the 8 hour trip from my parents to John David's parents a few times in it! We took the Escape on our honeymoon, on a mission trip to Iowa & have made countless trips to our parents homes in it! We have lots of memories & hope that it keeps going another 100,000!!

About to hit 100,000....99,999 is memorable too!

Wow...100,000 miles!!

To celebrate we stopped & took pictures (obviously) and then got Frosty's at Wendy's! It was a fun way to celebrate the little milestone!

Of course I had to laugh at us & our frugality because most people think it is time for a new car when they get close to 70,000 or 80,000 but not us...we want to see that odometer keep going on up!

All About Weddings

Last night the women's ministry at our church hosted an All About Weddings event. It started with a bridal fashion show, our women's ministry leader, Marie, talked about becoming the bride of Christ, and then was followed by a vendor show.

I participated in the fashion show! I wore my bridesmaid dress from my friend Kara's wedding which was in December. She told me that I would wear this dress again and turns out she was right! As of now I have worn it 3 times, at her wedding, for a picture to promote the All About Weddings Event, and last night during the show!

This is a beautiful bridesmaid dress!

The vendor show had wedding cake & punch (the punch was amazing...I hope to get the recipe!) There were photographers, wedding planners, caterers, Pampered Chef consultants, and Annie Brown was there with her new business If These Walls Could Speak. Her artwork is beautiful! I ordered one that has "But as for me and my house we will serve the Lord" as the background with a "B" and "established 2006" on it! Here is a link to what it looks like (except for the year difference!)

I had a lot of fun reminiscing over weddings and spending time with wonderful women from the First Family!

Mule Day Parade

This past Saturday was our first Mule Day! We had a great time at the parade & had lunch at the Breeden's home with some of the church staff.

Isn't this too cute?

The Maupin kids enjoying the parade! (Our neighbors & friends!!)

Phillip Fulmer was the grand marshall of the parade!

A wagon pulled by a team of mules!

The parade & lunch outside were too much for this fair-skinned girl...my hubby has been calling me "raccoon" thanks to my sunglasses! I will have my SPF 50 with me at all times from now on this spring/summer!

We had a fun time at Mule Day & plan to participate in this fun tradition!!

Childhood Treasures

My sister brought my American Girl dolls with her this weekend when she came! I just had to share this picture of the dolls!

Kirsten (the middle doll) was my first doll, I received here when I was 10 years old for Christmas! I loved this doll, slept with her (we had matching nightgowns) & took her to visit my grandparents (she had her own garmet bag!) The same Christmas I received Kirsten, Rebekah got Felicity (1st doll). We played together with our dolls and had so much fun! For now the dolls are all staying together at my house!

Samantha (one the end) was given to me for Christmas when I was in 6th grade. She is in immaculate condition due to the fact that I never really played with her. I was getting older and she was so beautiful and I didn't want to mess up her hair. I still played with Kirsten like you should play with a doll and would change Samantha's clothes but she never was lovingly treated like Kirsten was!

Of course I had to get the dolls out and look at all of their tiny shoes & clothes (my mom made a lot of their outfits!) It was a fun trip down memory lane!!

Crafting Supplies

I went to Hobby Lobby to pick up fabric for pinwheel quilt squares I will start after I finish the baby quilt I am working on. I already have red gingham & I wanted solid white to go with it! The white fabric was $1.87/yard and I purchased a yard and a half. I also picked up 2 baby bibs so I can cross-stitch them for shower gifts!

I made this sample patch to make sure it went with the quilt squares I already made! They look great together! My original intention when I started the baby blue pinwheels was a baby quilt but I have decided to do the red & blue and make a bigger quilt!

Scrap Quilt

Early last week I decided to go through my scrap box and cut out uniform scraps so one day I can make a scrap quilt! It took about 2 hours to cut all of these out and now after I finish up a sewing project whatever scraps I have left will be cut into blocks and stacked with these!

These scraps all remind me of something:

The denim is from jeans that belonged to John David and me.
The red/gold plaid is from our new curtains.
The sunflower print is from the first apron I made.
The green plaid is from a blanket I made my grandma.
The blue is scraps from the couch Kara re-covered!
The farm print is from Jen.
The cream/blue flowers is from our old curtains in our apartment.
The blue/brown/cream checked is from napkins I made.
The baby blue is from my first quilt binding.
The large flower print is from my garden apron!
The blue gingham is from my first quilt & will be in my pinwheel quilt.
The red/blue/cream star print is from my kitchen curtain in my apartment.
The toile is from Kara's couch pillows!

So they are scraps but each of the scraps hold memories that remind me of the places I have lived, people that are close to me, and things I have created in the past. So really my scrap quilt will be somewhat of a memory quilt and I am sure the others patches that will join these will all hold memories for me too!

The patch stack!!

Valentine's Day

We set a $5 Valentine's budget to buy each other gifts! This was fun & challenging too because there isn't too much you can do with $5!

John David gave me Sun Drop! (I have been craving a soda for a few week & telling him I want a Mountain Dew/Mello Yello/Sun Drop and he got me these!) What a lovely gift & a great gift to share with my Valentine!

Isn't he sweet to arrange them like a heart??

I gave John David a black long sleeve henley! He got a brown thermal henley for Christmas and loves it so I knew he would like this shirt!

So we had a wonderful Valentine's Day and spent less than $10 for our gifts!

TV Night

Last night was TV night! We don't have cable (which is a good thing, it is amazing how much time that is saved when you don't have TV shows taking up your time!) When we moved into our apartment (in May) we had no cable and no TV whatsoever so for 8 months we watched nothing! Now, just because we didn't watch TV doesn't mean we didn't waste time...the computer is a great time waster too!!

When we moved to our home we set up a computer in the living room and are able to watch shows from Hulu and Boxee. These are free services and are great since we don't have room for cable in the budget! So, for the past few weeks we have been watching our favorite shows, Chuck, House, and The Office! We really enjoy TV night and since John David started his job as Media Director at church and is around computers and technology all day, when he comes home he doesn't want to spend too much time in front of the computer! So now we are spending more "screen time" in front of the computer that is our TV....isn't that complicated??

Anyways, last night we watched House and Chuck....in 3D!

Here are a few pics:

Gotta love the awesome 3D glasses!

Mac.. he isn't really into the TV thing!

And a chocolate chip cookie brownie tops the evening! (One of my great deals at Kroger this week!)

The Small Things

I have been thinking the past few days about the small things in life that are too often overlooked. For me, many of these small things are often silly, nothing profound at all, but they bring great joy into my life.

Here are my small things:
*John David's cold feet at night
*A hug after John David walks in the door from work
*Folding our laundry
*Baking cookies
*Vanilla Dr. Pepper at Sonic with John David!
*Welch's Grape Juice
*A good book
*Soft blankets
*Fleece sheets
*Flannel pjs
*Talking to my sister
*Homemade pizza
*Half anniversaries!
*Bargain shopping
*Blogging
*Sweet little dogs!
*Listening to Christian music and singing at the top of my lungs with John David (and neither of us can sing!)
*Looking at pictures
*Warm socks
*Organizing
*Kid Cereal
*Recycling
*Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
*Grocery Shopping
*Long car ride with John David

I could go on and on but those are some of the small things, that I enjoy and that made my life so wonderful!

Family & Football

Ready for a Saturday drive...

We went to Cookeville this weekend to see Jill cheer and to visit with John David's parents. We left home at 9:30, ate lunch at Cheddar's, went to the game (it was chilly), and headed back home! We had a fun day!




Sweet hubby!


Jill is the 5th from the right in the back...(confusing but that is where she is!)



Me (sporting my goofy sunglasses & jacket from 7th grade), Jill, & John David

What a Weekend!

We have had a wonderful weekend thus far!! John David came home for lunch Friday, I made Chicken Enchilada Soup! Then he surprised me by telling me he took the rest of the day off!! What a great surprise!! That afternoon we went to vote and then went to Office Depot (where I found a much needed pack of 3 dry erase markers for $1.13!!!) Then we went to T.J. Maxx & to Wal-Mart. John David purchased an exercise ball to use as his desk chair...I know it may sound crazy but it is really comfy!!

Friday night, John David found a PowerBook G4 on Craigslist and around 9:45 we met with the seller and bought that! (He used his graduation/play money so it did not effect the budget!!) So yesterday was a lot like Christmas!!

Here is my sweetie on his new chair & playing with his new computer!! He has quite the Mac set-up now...what more could he want??

This morning we slept in...nothing like sleeping late snuggled in fleece sheets!! We didn't really anything productive but that is the beauty of Saturday morning. John David installed Leopard on the PowerBook so while that was installing we played 2 games of Yahtzee! (I am not bragging or anything but I won twice!!) I love playing games with my sweetie!! We decided to go to McDonald's for lunch and then we explored the county a little! We went down a really nice road with nice houses & small farms! That was fun, especially since we are getting close to buying!! (Just a few more "financial goals" to accomplish and we will be on our way to home ownership!!)

We came home and I worked on my Sunday School lesson, preparing crafts for tomorrow, and then I made supper, Chicken-n-Dumplins, and they were so good! I then made a fleece body pillow case from a fleece throw we had at home. (Our fleece sheets came with pillowcases but we sleep on a body pillow so we didn't have a fleece body pillow case!!) I cut a little off the blanket and stitched it up and it turned out great!!

The Busy, Productive & Fun Weekend

This weekend was busy! Really we have been busy since Wednesday with things to do and we haven't dealt with the busyness of life since April! So, I took things a day at a time, had a blast, and now I am exhausted! After my chores today I plan to read a good book for a little while and just relax!!

On Friday John David and I woke up early and headed to a yard sale in Franklin (they were selling video equipment). (We didn't make any purchases but it was enjoyable because we haven't been to a yard sale since June or July!) Then we went out for a breakfast date at Cracker Barrel!! I love our breakfast dates!! We both ate the same thing we ALWAYS do, Fried Chicken Tenders & Hash Brown Casserole!! There is not much variety in our lives when we go to Cracker Barrel!!

After breakfast we went to Plato's Closet where I tried to sell some of my clothes but they wouldn't buy anything! The girl said my clothes were too old (they buy things that are less than a year or 2 old but she said they were in great condition...at least I got a compliment :) ) Of course that didn't come as too big of a surprise because most of my clothes were given to me, bought at yard sales or Goodwill so I wasn't expecting much at all!!

We headed North to Two Rivers Campground where John David's Dad had parked the camper. So I dropped John David off there and headed back towards home while he and his Dad went hunting in Henry County.

On my way home I stopped at Super Target in Spring Hill and was there about 2 hours. I bought shower gifts, shower supplies (for Kara's upcoming shower!), granola bars, and looked around for Christmas presents without any luck. After my 2 hour Target trip I came home and started working on the invitations for Kara's shower, which have turned out really good, I will have to post pictures of those soon!!

Saturday morning I woke up bright and early and headed to Mike & Jen's home to their yard sale. I brought 3 boxes of things (a box of clothes, a box of fabric & a small box of books, kitchen utensils, Christmas ornaments) to sell and I also went there to help! Their daughter Katie & I worked the "cash register" and I had a blast with her!! Jen is a yard sale genius, since Saturday was the second day of the sale everything was $.25 unless it was a bigger item or a $.10 item, such as books! And this is the way to get things gone and clear the clutter!! I ended up selling all but 4 pieces of clothing and made $14.65! I was so excited because all of this stuff would have been donated to Goodwill for no profit but I made $14.65!! And I had a lot of fun with Katie and learned about having a successful yard sale!!

Sunday was church, I had 3 kids in my class but we still had fun!! After church we came home and had leftovers, Rotel Chicken, which was nice to open the fridge and just heat up lunch!! I took a little nap and then started making pizza for Mike & Jen & their kids! I made 3 kid size pizzas (2-Cheese & 1-Pepperoni), 1-Sausage & Pepperoni, 1- 1/2 Sausage, Pepperoni & Mushroom and 1/2 Sausage & Pepperoni, 1-Chicken Alfredo, and 1-Buffalo Chicken (a small experimental pizza!!) We had a great time eating pizza and spending time together!! After dinner Mike & Jen ran to Target and John David and the older kids filmed a short video and I played Simon Says and we played with PLAYDOH-fun stuff!! We had a blast!!

So here I am this morning reflecting over the great weekend I had, it was busy but I had a lot of fun! Yes I am tired but after a little bit of rest and taking it easy I will be back to my simple little life!!

Lunch with my hubby!

Today John David and I went to the Square Market Cafe here in Columbia for lunch! It was nice to spend time with him on a lunch date! I ordered half of a Club Panini and a cup of Chicken con Queso Soup and he had half a Reuben and a cup of Chicken con Queso soup! The food was delicious and the company was great!!!

Weekend/Monday

This weekend was lovely! We slept in Saturday morning (not too late) and it was great! We spent our Saturday just relaxing at home and enjoying spending time together. I did come up with a "to do" list for this week. I figure having a list where I can check off the things I finish will help to make me feel I have accomplished something that week! I will see how it goes this week!

Sunday I taught my second week of the Older Threes Sunday School! I had 5 kids again this week! I am really enjoying teaching these Pre-Schoolers. They are so much fun, so sweet and very attentive! We learned about being kind to each other this Sunday! After church we watched more Olympics!

This morning I woke up somewhat slowly (because we stayed up too late watching Olympics!) I had breakfast with John David and after he left for work I went for my morning walk. After my exercise I did laundry, meal planned for the week, dusted the house, organized his closet, and took a few pictures of items we are going to list on Craigslist/E-bay! So I feel I have had a productive day and hopefully will have a productive week!

Now, we are still watching the Olympics...it will be tough getting out of bed again in the morning!

Circuit City Grand Opening/ Shopping Trip

This afternoon we went a Circuit City Grand Opening. John David left work a few minutes early and we got to the store at 4:30. It opened at 6 but we got there at 4:30 to get $50 gift cards! We were the 85th and 86th people in line!! Our waiting was a small adventure in itself...



...it rained

The rain wasn't so bad at first then it started pouring for about 10 minutes and we got wet...not soaked... just nice and wet. But the rain and clouds was a lot better than the July heat and humidity I suppose!

We decided to put our money together and we got:



They were $98 something with tax so we have about $1.60 left on one of the cards! We have been looking at Bose speakers for awhile and since we had $100 we decided to get them!!



Here are the speakers in their new home ready to make the Mac Book Pro sound awesome!!

Earlier in the day I did a little shopping...

CVS:




Revlon Makeup: $9.99 - $2 coupon
Band Aids: $2.99 - $1 coupon
Kotex: $2.50 - $1 coupon
- $9.99 ECB

Total: $2 with tax

ECBs earned: $9.99 (Revlon) $2 (BandAids)

Kroger:



I got all of this for $10.91! (The smaller box of Rice Krispies was $.50, the Warm Delights were $.50, the Skintimate was $.95, the Rice A Roni was $.15!!) I was especially happy about these little bargains!!

This evening my parents arrived to spend graduation weekend with us! They brought garden produce with them, fresh blackberries, peaches, tomatoes, onions, cabbage, corn, and Mom's blackberry jam (the best!!) We had fried pork chops, rice and corn for dinner and everything was yummy!

White Water Rafting

This weekend we went White Water Rafting on the Ocoee!! It was amazing! We went with Adam & Katie and Adam's sister Heather and her husband Daniel. I was the only one of our group who hadn't been before and I must admit that I was a little anxious but once I got in the water and we started down the river I had a blast! The more rapids we went over and the bigger the splashes, the better! It was about a 2 hour trip down the river and at one point in the river we could get out of the boat and swim! John David and I hopped out and floated beside the boat for a few minutes!

The plan is that next year we are all going again and are going to raft the upper part where the Olympic course is! I am so excited about going!



...in the Escape on the way

What's Been Going On

Again, it has been awhile since I last wrote. The reason I don't write frequently is because I don't think we have done anything exciting enough to share, but I guess the everyday is exciting!!

We had a lovely weekend. Friday night we didn't have anything planned but we did go to Goodwill to look around there. I found an Elisabeth Elliott book that I had been looking for, it was in perfect condition and only $1.49! I also found a Hallmark plate for $1.99!



I love the pretty cherries, it makes it look so cheerful! It will make a great cake plate or serving plate!!





There is a little poem on the back that says, "Please accept this simple treat for being extra kind, for when it comes to thoughtfulness, of course, you come to mind. And even when the smallest crumbs of food are finally gone, the plate is yours to keep, or else feel free to pass it on. For as you honor someone else's caring attitude, you'll be a link within a lasting chain of gratitude."

Saturday we slept until 8:30 and went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast/lunch! We both got our favorite meal that we get for both breakfast and lunch, fried chicken tenders with hash brown casserole! After eating we went to Target where I found a brown scoop neck t-shirt (I have been looking for a plain brown t-shirt everywhere with no success!) It was a great find for $2.45!! That evening we went to the Sunset Symphony. It was held at an Antebellum home and we had dinner and listened to the symphony on the lawn! It was a nice evening that we both enjoyed!

Sunday was a typical relaxing Sunday, which I enjoy and yesterday I cleaned my home and went to CVS! I did really good there! I bought:

1 4x6 photo book for $3.99 with $3.99 ECBs
2 5-pack tampons for $1.49 each with $1.49 ECBs giving me $2.98 in ECBs
2 Sally Hansen Nail Polishes for $.99 each with a coupon for $3 off, which they gave me $1.98 off making them free!

I used a $5 ECB that I had and paid $2.34 cash and received $6.97 back in ECBs!! I thought that was great, I needed some new nail polish and the little photo book has pictures from our Maine trip and it turned out really cute!

After my CVS trip I came back home and began searching on the Internet for jobs. I found a couple prospects and have made contact about them! Just pray for me as I search for a job and for Gods will for me in the future.