05.31.07
money thoughts…
So I’ve started reading The Wealthy Barber by David Chilton. I used some of my Birthday Borders gift card towards it and I’m quite happy! I’ve read through the first couple of chapters so far and I’ve already learned lots. The first suggestion given is to pay yourself 10% of your paycheck first, instead of saving what you have left at the end of the month (which is often nothing). He suggests putting this 10% into a mutual fund that you can add onto monthly and that way that money is put away for many years down the road. I found it interesting that in the book they talk about how you won’t even notice that the 10% is gone… and I agree, at least with tithing I never notice that money being taken… I know where its going, and I don’t spend it. So we need to start looking at another 10% of our funds and how we can put that away for years to come.
So now comes the time to shop for a mutual fund and really discuss and look into this idea.
It will be interesting to see what this summer holds for us financially especially with my income. Though it’s small, it may get smaller with many students taking vacations and my taking July off for vacation time.
We got our food box last night, and though we left most of it at the church by accident… but its lookin good!a
05.28.07
anniversary/birthday weekend…
Well with Spencer and Beth married, Karl and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary & my birthday! Yea! Enjoyed some pool/friend time at the amazing home of Eric Haines as well as a wonderful dinner at The Bullfrog last night. Tonight we’re headed to Ichiban with Spence and Beth. Having lots of fun in Williamsport and will be sad to leave… but it will be nice to get home.
It was so great to see so many friends this weekend! Very enjoyable!
05.25.07
halfway…
Well, it’s a big weekend… we’re in Williamsport for Spence and Beth’s wedding and the weekend is almost half over. It’s Friday night and we’ve really been going non stop since arriving yesterday afternoon. Between moving many gifts into their new home to decorating the reception site as well as parties and rehearsals and such I’ll admit I’m tired. It’s been so much fun helping to get everything ready and it really just makes me reflect to Karl’s and my wedding last year. We’re coming up on a 1 year of marriage… crazy huh! Somedays it feels like it was just yesterday while other days I feel like we’ve been married FOREVER! The best year ever! This weekend is amazing because Karl and I have seen so many of our friends that we don’t usually see very often! And it’s such a conglomoration of friends from different places and times, it’s so much fun! Memorial Day Weekend is a hot weekend to get married… we have 2 friends actually getting married this weekend (one in Williamsport, one in Aspen). After Sunday 4 couples will have been married on this weekend in the past 3 years! We’ll have to vacation together in a couple years for an anniversary… so if anyone wants to join in, claim next Memorial Day Weekend for your wedding 
Well I babel because I’m sitting in Dunkin’ Donuts while Karl gets some work done. And I just realized there are two spellings of donuts (doughnuts)… I usually use the “gh” version.
Karl gave me my birthday present already… a silver ring with an oval jade stone from Blair Brothers… love that place and those guys, what amazing talent.
Rufus pee’d on our bed last night and unfortunately I was sitting on the bed with her and so my jeans got pee soaked… not fun… and kind of smelly… no worries I cleaned up quickly and Rufus got a stern talking to. I think she was a little mortified that she did it… I could see it in her eyes.
I got my hair cut this morning, it feels nice having the length off.
There are a lot of older couples at Dunkin’ Donuts tonight… it looks like they came from some ball/banquet thing, they’re all really dressed up. I hope they didn’t all get dressed up to come Dunkin’ Donuts, maybe nobody told them that the dress code is pretty casual here. They’re kind of loud… but they’re clearing out slowly.
A big thanks to the Egley twins for slowing down this afternoon so that Rachel, Karen (my mother-in-law) and I could shout across Rt 15 to have them call Karl so he could call Kari (his sister) to tell her we were on our way to the rehearsal dinner. It was humorous and it worked, kind of… the message got to Karl and he called home to his sister and dad… and they showed up… so yeah it worked!
ok can’t think of anything else… so I’m out.
05.20.07
growing old with chocolate…
With my birthday coming up at the end of the month I’m reflecting on how things have changed since I was younger. Yesterday was a prime example. Karl and I, along with two other leaders, took 17 Jr and Sr Highers to Hershey Park for the day. This was the first day trip to an amusement park that Karl and I have planned for the kids so we definitely learned a lot yesterday… but the thing I learned most is… I’m getting old. You may laugh and say, oh you’re only 22 (23 on the 28th)… but honestly I rode maybe 5 rides and I was exhausted about half way through the day. I’m sure thinking about the kids and organizing meeting times and everything added to my exhaustion as well as the early morning and ride down… but wow, by dinner I was pooped. Last summer I kept up with 3 high school aged girls at the park pretty well, but I definitely crashed when I got home. Yesterday though, I was ready crash half way through the day. Its ok though and I still enjoyed myself immensely.
Favorite part of the day: The Comet… you may say what?! but really it was, I could have ended my day after the ride which says a lot because it was the first ride we rode! Jill and I were paired up and waited for the back car to make the ride extra fun! As we headed up the first hill a girl 2 seats ahead of us was pretty pumped yelling “rock on!!!”. That excitement didn’t last long as we went down the hill and she began screaming her head off and frantically putting her arms out to catch herself as we went through the ride. I can’t put the actions into words but believe me there was flailing and screaming and utter terror. At first Jill and I thought this girl was faking it… but oh no, she was truly terrified. But her reactions were just so hilarious that it made all of her friends and Jill and I laugh through the ENTIRE ride. The poor girl… she ran off the ride once it ended and I’m not sure she’ll ever get on a roller coaster again, but I’m truly glad that I was there to see her experience on the comet!
Fun events throughout the day included little plastic Cowboys and Indians being placed all around the park and the kids had to try and take the funniest picture. I heard of some that sound pretty good so I can’t wait to see the pictures. Early in the day one of the guys put a red Indian on a Hershey Park sign on a building by our meeting spot. We were pleased to see that it was still there at the end of the night and many people took their pictures with the sign (not knowing the little plastic Indian was in the picture as well!)
Laughter filled the night air as one of our students tried to annoy some other park goers with the clicking of her used up disposable camera… it didn’t seem to annoy them so she resorted to “the claw”… again I don’t really know how to explain but the fact that she did this to strangers (2 high school age boys) just cracked us up… it truly made for a great end to the night.
Anyway, I ramble. It was a great trip to Hershey. I got my free chocolate from Chocolate World. We came home with as many kids as we left with in the morning. And the kids had fun! Sweet!
Hershey’s Chocolate, Hershey’s Chocolate, Hershey’s Chocolate World…
05.17.07
excited for food…
So I’m pretty excited for food. We have been without our monthly box of food from Angel Food Ministries the past couple of months, and we just hopped on board for the month of May, so we’ll be stocking up on the food soon. I just realized there is a church in State College that does the Angel Food Ministry as well, so maybe we’ll start going through them so as not to wear Vanya’s mother in law out with picking up so many boxes out in Huntingdon. The church in State College is Bethel Church of the Nazarene down on South Atherton. A sample of what May’s box is:
(4) 5 oz. New York Strip Steaks
(1) 4 lb. I.Q.F. Chicken Thighs
(1) 40 oz. Beef & Bean Burritos
(1) 28 oz. Banquet Beef & Noodle Dinner
(1) 2 lb. Breaded Frying Chicken
(1) 1 lb. Ground Beef
(1) 12 oz. Pepperoni Pizza Sticks
(1) 2 lb. Popcorn Chicken
(1) 1 lb. Bean Soup Mix
(1) 8 oz. Biscuit Mix
(1) 7.5 oz. Mac & Cheese
(1) 12 ct. Corn Tortillas
(1) 26 oz. Pasta Sauce
(1) 16 oz. Pasta
(1) 24 oz. Hash Brown Potatoes
(1) 16 oz. Mixed Vegetables
(1) Dessert Item
Yeah so I’m pretty excited for food!
05.15.07
puzzling…
Well I must admit that I probably haven’t touched Lost Puzzle #2 since the week I got my wisdom teeth out. I just haven’t been in a puzzling mood. But last night with the help of friends we got a good chunk of the puzzle done. So who knows if I’ll touch it again in the next month and a half, but it’s definitely looking better!
An update on life… it’s been pretty good, busy, but good. The best parts:
Seeing my mom twice in the past week.
Having lunch with my grandmother yesterday.
A successful car wash on Saturday for our kids going to LIFE.
Checking out the new Christian Bookstore in town: Cornerstone.
Hearing Karl speak at youth on Wed night.
Eating hot dogs and hamburgers with friends.
Talking to Sarah and knowing that she’s now addicted to LOST.
Spending fun times with friends last night, puzzling and gaming.
Laughing at Scrubs and Office clips with Karl and Jill.
Update financially: We’re trying this month to have our own personal spending cash ($80 each) so as not to use the credit cards as much and to cut down on what we buy. I think we’re both going kind of low with our disappearing cash and our out to eat envelope is empty. I notice we tend to spend more when we travel… Looks like the rest of May is going to interesting!
It’s a typical Tuesday for me though, cleaning up from the weekend. I tend to get so disorganized during the weekend, which drives me nuts… so I’m back on track. Maybe I’ll look at the puzzle a little bit more before my lessons show up!
05.08.07
a weekend in the burgh…
So Karl and I spent the weekend in Pittsburgh and its surrounding areas. The main events were Kari’s two graduation ceremonies (both around 2 hours long). The lesser main event was eating in the city… amazing amazing food. Kari definitely took us to some great restaurants. Though we skipped the Cheesecake Factory (despite Karl’s plea) and Milkshake Factory… we ate good at an Irish Pub, a Hibatchi Grill and an amazing little coffee shop near Pitt.
It’s always nice to get home though after driving around Pittsburgh. I feel so much more relaxed outside of the city.
Today I head down to Dover for a Mother and Daughter Banquet that my parents’ church has every year around Mother’s Day. It’ll be nice to spend some time with my mom, sister in law and grandmother.
Enjoying the weather today!!
05.03.07
looking at a budget…
So I’m trying to get this budget together that is more detailed then the one we’ve been using. Making sure we know exactly where our money goes. The hard thing is we’re having to pay things off so I can’t exactly put the money where I want it to go! It would be so much easier if we just didn’t spend anything for the month… funny huh! I know this takes time… and I guess thats what I have to keep reminding myself. But so often I want to see the results now. I know that money is not the most important thing in life, but I just want Karl and I to be in a position later on in life where we can really give to others financially. I love the whole annonymous giver thing, and I want us to be able to do that without worry.
Anyway back to the budget to try and make it work!
05.01.07
financial peace…
So, despite my quick start into Dave Ramsey’s book Financial Peace revisited i was unable to really pick it up this week until last night. Maybe there’s something special about Monday nights. Anyway… I’m pumped to win financially. The hardest part for me is letting the time pass to let money grow and all that jazz. I kind of jumped ahead in the book to where Ramsey spells out steps to really get on track… I really liked them. Karl and I looked over them last night a bit and we’re gonna stick to it.
In other news… hmm… I had a good weekend. Monday was pretty good to me too. Today I’m doing the laundry that I was going to do yesterday… and I was going to give Rufus a bath but just remembered that the cat has taken over the bathroom and it’s pretty gross… so maybe I’ll wait or give her the bath in our other bathroom. We’ll go for our walk in a little bit and then maybe i’ll walk down to Giant to get a couple things for this week. I’ve already had 2 of the 3 lessons for today cancel, but I also have one moved from yesterday to today, so 2 lessons today. It should be a good day!
