Ben and I have been visiting family this past week, which means, when it's all said and done, we will have traveled 16 hours in a car together. With a toddler. Who doesn't like to sit still. And throws things. And makes messes. Really big messes. Fun times right there.
Anyhow, I was trolling pinterest a while back and I came across the most brilliant idea I had ever seen. Really, I don't know why in the world I didn't think of it. It makes so much sense and it is just so darn practical.
is so stinkin' smart! It's a cereal canister that doubles as a trash can in the car. I get oddly excited about things like this. So you can imagine I ran to Walmart the day before our trip and bought one of these babies. I could hardly wait to put it in the car.
It didn't disappoint.
Now, instead of the trash and mess that accumulates all over our car during a road trip, I can just drop it in the can and close the lid.
I had a little too much fun with it. We'd go through a drive-thru and I would more-than-happily dispose of my straw wrapper in my new trashcan.At one point, I even started cleaning out my glovebox and throwing everything in to the trash.
It was just so darn handy, y'all!
And the best part is that when it fills up, you just take the bag out and put a new one in.
BRILLIANT, I tell you!
We are no longer swimming in napkins or lids or baby wipes or goldfish crumbs. This idea has forever changed the way I travel.
Do y'all have any car organization tips while traveling? Or tips to keep an 18 month old from screaming 'OUT, OUT, OUT' at the top of his lungs for 4 straight hours?
With so much job uncertainty right now, I'm doing all I can to squeeze the heck out of my pennies. Actually, it's kinda fun looking for ways to save money, and then seeing the fruits of your labor. With summer peeking around the corner and Ben and I both home, I knew we'd be able to do more to save money at home.
First off, we planted a garden again. Last year was our first attempt at gardening, and I was 100% pleased. We ate like pigs last summer and I froze tons of things too. We bought a deep freezer last summer to store our goodies, and it was one of the best investments we've made. At the end of last summer, I was able to freeze corn on the cob and peppers. I can say that I have not bought a single green pepper all year long. We did run out of corn during the winter, but we made sure to plant more this year. We also canned salsa with our tomatoes from last summer. I haven't bought salsa this year, either.
This year's garden consists of onions, peppers (green, yellow, and red), spinach, green beans, and corn. My parents put out a garden with the potatoes, so we'll share them. I may plant a few squash and watermelon, too.
We planted a little earlier than usual and prayed it wouldn't frost. It did, but we covered our plants, and so far, everything is growing great.
I also planted a few herbs in boxes on my porch. It's so nice to be able to pick my own herbs to use in a dish.
Next, I threatened with bodily harm convinced Ben to build us a clothesline. I don't know about y'all, but I go through laundry like nobody's business. I seriously think I could do at least 3 loads of laundry a day, 7 days a week. Our dryer was getting tired. Ben had a bad habit to stuff as much clothes as he could into the washer at one time. And when he'd put them in the dryer, sometimes it would take 3 cycles to get them completely dry. So I decided it was time for a clothesline. I sent Ben to the barn to get some old wood and he picked up a couple of screws and a line at Lowe's. He spent an afternoon building it and we were in business. All it needs is a coat of paint now.
I love it. Seriously, I was so excited when he built it that I washed all of our sheets and towels and blankets just so I could hang them up. I can't wait to compare our power bills from this month to last to see if it's made any difference.
I want to take a quick second to brag about my husband. I wish I would have taken some pictures as Ben was building it. Ben is not a handyman. At all. In fact, I may be more handy than he is, and that's not saying alot. But, Ben will try anything, and if he doesn't know how to do something, he'll look it up online, or he'll ask the guy at Lowe's. And for someone who doesn't know much about what he's doing, he does a really good job! I'm so proud of him taking initiative to do things for me.
And lastly, I've discovered the Goodwill pound sale. My sweet friend Margaret introduced me to this yardsaler/consignment lover's paradise. It happens every Friday morning at 8 a.m. at our local Goodwill warehouse. Basically, they open a portion of the warehouse to the public. They have several large tables and bins FULL of clothes. And you just dig. And dig. And dig for clothes. And then you buy what you want and they charge you by the pounds of clothes that you buy. And it's cheap! I got all of this:
for $3.30. That was 5 shirts for PB, 3 pairs of shorts for PB, including a pair of GAP cargos, 1 pair of GAP swimming trunks for PB, one Chaps polo for Ben, 2 shirts for me, a skirt for me, and a pair of leggings for me. All for $3.30.
WORD!
It's totally hit or miss. I've been a few times, and never spent more than $5.00. Some of the clothes are new. Some of them might be stained or worn out. And some of them are just down-right steals. Like I said, it's hit or miss. I walked away with this Express skirt and Target shirt the last time I went:
I don't know if this is a national Goodwill thing, or if it's just a local event, but it's worth checking into. Local people, email or message me if you want directions to the warehouse.
So there are some ways we're saving this summer. What about you guys? How are you cutting back this summer?
I finally finished student teaching a couple of days ago, and now, I'm unemployed.
Womp, womp.
So far, there have been ZERO elementary jobs posted for the systems I'm applying for. But I'm keeping my head up, and trying to focus on the fact that God has a plan for me, and He led me here for a reason. Some days it's really easy. Other days, not so much. But regardless, I'm happy and content with the decision that I made.
I had 100% intention to get back on the posting ball once I finished my internship, but it hasn't quite worked out the way I planned. I have spent the past couple of days soaking up time with my boys, cleaning out closets, and sweeping up dust bunnies who have taken up permanent residence under our beds and couches due to my negligence of household chores. But I've plucked my eyebrows, watched a soap while I folded laundry, and took my mamaw shopping. And I've spent most days in the softest, most publicly inappropriate clothes I own. All in all, I'd say it's been a success.
I'll recap a little on what I've missed over the past month or so:
1. We celebrated 3 years of wedded bliss. I'll admit, our romantic date to the Tennessee Line and Progressive Partner dance will be hard to top. I'm still laughing about it. Our anniversary was May 16th. We went out for a bite to eat that night. We brought PB with us. He threw his food all over the restaurant. He broke a dish. He screamed bloody murder until Ben took him outside and I finished eating my anniversary dinner alone. The best part of the night was the ride home when we laughed about how naive we were 3 years ago. We were grinning idiots on that day, and if we had it to do all over again, we'd take the money and run off to Vegas. I wouldn't trade where we are now for anything.
2. I celebrated my 1 year blogging anniversary. And by celebrate, I mean that I was laying in the bed one night watching Golden Girls reruns and thought, 'oh crap, haven't I been blogging a year now'? So yep. One whole year of my life I've recorded on this blog. I admit, I have a love/hate relationship with this thing. I love it because I can look back on so much that I would have totally forgotten about, and I hate it because it feels like a chore sometimes. Luckily, it only feels like a chore when I feel like I've got nothing to write about. Which brings me to point 3.
3. I currently have 7 unfinished blog posts. That means, I've sat down 7 times to write a post and I've abruptly shut the computer down. It was probably because I had a screaming toddler yanking my legs. Or because Ben couldn't find his khakis. Or really, most likely, because I have had a terrible habit of keeping chocolate ice cream in the fridge lately. And every night, like clockwork, I convince myself that I need to have a bowl before I go to bed. So, that, my friends has crowded my blogging time. I'd really like to blame it on something other than that, but I can't. That's the real excuse.
4. I highlighted my hair. Two times. I think I'm going through a youngish-mid life mom-crisis. I think it started when I had the Target bathing suit incident. I must have panicked and thought I was destined for a lifetime of Ryder's jeans so I stopped at the pharmacy and bought a highlighting kit. I've never highlighted my hair, but the gray was really getting out of control. So I read the box, applied the stuff, and left it on for 2 minutes. It did nothing. Undeterred, I bought another box, left the stuff on for 30 minutes, and now, the grays have disappeared! Well, more like they are hiding underneath 'caramel' highlights, but I like to pretend they're gone.
5. We've planted a garden, built a clothesline, and hope to get a storage shed soon to house my table saw. I've got lots to post about, so hopefully I can resist the chocolate ice cream and catch up!
Saturday night, Ben and I celebrated our 3 year wedding anniversary. Our anniversary isn't until Wednesday, but Ben said he had a special date night planned for Saturday. I could tell he was really excited about it. He wouldn't tell me where we were going because he said it was a 'surprise'. I hate surprises. I really do.
So we sent PB to my momma's house for the night. I spent 45 minutes trying to decide what to wear for a special surprise date. I tried half my closet on, and then convinced myself that I had 'no' clothes. I'm at an awkward clothes stage right now. I'm trying not to look like the Ryder's jeans mom, but I feel borderline inappropriate shopping at Forever 21 and Target's junior section. I settled on a modest mom outfit, slapped on some eyeliner, and we hit the road.
We went to eat first. We had a nice little dinner. There were rolls involved, so that's always a win in my book. I pleaded with Ben to tell me what he had planned for the rest of the night. After an hour of pure annoyance, he obliged and told me we were going 'dancing'.
Let me explain something here first. A couple of weeks ago, Ben and I were talking about our high school proms. Since we went to different high schools, Ben said he wished we would have gotten to go to a prom or a dance together. And since I have two left feet, I lied and said I wished that too.
Enter Saturday night.
Ben said he found a 'social club' that was having a dance at a visitor's center on Saturday night from 8 to 10, and he thought this would be the perfect opportunity to finally go to a 'dance' together. I was so impressed by his thoughtfulness and his initiative, that I didn't really even ask any questions about this 'social club' dance. I imagined it to be just like a prom or a school dance.
In hindsight, the red flags should have started in the parking lot of the visitor's center. There were Buicks, Cadillacs, Cutlass Supremes, and even a few 3-wheeled motorcycles. I thought it to be a little odd that there were several older, 'mulleted' men in the parking lot, but I can't discriminate because I once had a mullet, too.
When we walked up to door, I heard Alan Jackson blaring on the speakers. We could see a few older people moving through a little slit in the door. They probably just worked at the visitor's center, though.
Ben held the door open for me and followed me in.
Oh.
My.
Gosh.
When I say the music almost stopped, I'm not exaggerating. The way the door was positioned put us right in the middle of the dance floor. People stopped. They stared. We had just walked in to the Tennessee Line and Progressive Partner dance.
And we were 40 years younger than anyone there.
I have to stop here as I'm typing this and just laugh. Really. This would happen to us. We crash a senior citizen's line dancing event, thinking we are going to some cool, hip dance.
People were dressed in cowboy boots and hats and fluffy skirts. The median age for this event had to be 75.
And these guys could dance! They were line dancing their socks off. Ben and I just stood at the door with our mouths dropped open. We couldn't leave. It would be too awkward. Everyone was staring at us. Eventually, a sweet little lady, Lillian, came over and introduced herself. She welcomed us and Ben told her we were celebrating our 3 year wedding anniversary. Yep. At a line-dancing club with senior citizens.
Yep.
She grabbed our hands and told us to hop in line. So, my friends, Ben and I spent then next 2 hours line dancing the night away with a bunch of old folks. And it was hilarious. We had a such a good time. We tried to sneak a few pictures because we were certain that NO ONE would believe this was how we spent our 3 year wedding anniversary.
We had a blast. The people were so sweet. Ben caught on quick. I, on the other hand, hung out in the back of the pack with Elbert, an older gentleman I assumed to be about 82 years old. And I could barely hang with him.
We danced until we couldn't keep up anymore, and we said goodbye to the line-dancing crew. Just as we were walking out the door, we heard "Wobble Baby" come on the loud speakers. For those of you unfamiliar (like me) with "Wobble Baby", 'VIC' sings/raps this song. And for those of you unfamiliar with 'VIC', this is he:
image via google.com
So as you can imagine, Ben and I ran back in to watch these senior citizens dance to "Wobble Baby", and dance they did:
(Excuse the quality of the video. I'm technologically impaired)
I have never laughed so hard in my life. Ben and I both danced with them and I videoed part of it to save as evidence that there's a little 'G' in everyone. HAHA. I'm still laughing, y'all!
