Summer Reading List

I don't get much time to read during the school year. Especially when the second semester rolls around and I've got my hands full with teaching AP courses. But I make a point to keep a mental list of the books I'd like to read so that I can check them out from the local library over the summer.

These are a few of the books on my list:

10 Days that Unexpectedly Changed America by Steven Gillon | I've already started reading this one. I've heard that some AP teachers assign this book as summer reading. So I wanted to see if it was something I could incorporate into my own AP course. 

The Divergent Series by Veronica Roth | My kids have been talking about this series for a while now. And now that the first book has become a movie, I'm all the more motivated to finally see what this series is all about. The movie looks good. But I wanted to read the books before watching the movie, because if I watch the movie first, I know I won't read the book.

A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry | This one should be a quick read. I bought the book years ago at a yard sale for a dime, but never read it. Our juniors are suppose to be reading this book as part of their English curriculum next year, so I thought I would read it and see how we might be able to incorporate it into both English and History.

A Land Remembered by Patrick Smith | This is where the if-there-is-time-I'd-like-to-read-this part of the list begins. And it begins with another school-related book. This one has two volumes, but I've heard its another quick read.

A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn | Some AP teachers use this as their course textbooks, while others use it as a supplemental text. I've heard a lot about Zinn's perspective on history, and I'm interested to read it myself.

Start by Jon Acuff | This book is actually on the hubby's list of books to read this summer. He just checked it out from the library yesterday. But I think I'm going to swipe it from him once he's done. 

Smart Money, Smart Kids by Dave Ramsey and Rachel Cruze | Although we aren't parents, I still can't wait to get my hands on this book. Towards the end of the school year when all the standardized testing has passed and we're finished with our curriculum, I try to give my students a few lessons on personal finance, so I'm always looking for new things to add to the mix.


What books are on your list to read this summer?

Friday Favorites

Every week I share things from around the internet that put a smile on my face in the hopes that they will put a smile on your face too. So, without further ado...

my (period) week in Harry Potter gifs

wrecking ball costume for dogs

this girl's first attempt at an eHarmony video
(and if you liked that, someone turned it into a song)

these awesome hay bales Layla shared on her blog yesterday

creating art work from spray paint

this adorable little girl singing along to Elvis

this site about what its like to follow Dave Ramsey's plan

if you loved yesterday's Halloween video, then you'll love this follow up video

Life Lately

Considering it has been a month since I last checked in with this blog, I figured I'd do a little bit of a catch up post with everything that has been happening lately. And what better way to do that than by going back through my Instagram feed. 

President's Day weekend I got to watch these two:

We stayed up late and watched movies. Playing on the complex's playground was a huge hit. We took a field trip to the Webster Flea Market. Overall, it was a fun two days. I have a few more pictures from that weekend that I'm hoping to share in a later post.

In other news, I've got a new part time job:

You're looking at the new ticket taker for my high school's softball team. Basically, I sit a table and make people pay me money to see their kids/grand kids/friends throw a ball around. It's not too bad. Sure, most nights it's been pretty cold and I've frozen my butt off. But, it's bringing in extra cash. Now if only I could stop spending that extra cash on concession stand goodies.... 

Speaking of extra cash - we've officially paid off my car! We're still waiting to have the title in hand, but we no longer have to send KIA our hard-earned money. We just sat down this weekend to hash out the budget, and it was so nice to have that extra money in the account! It was short-lived though - all that extra money got snowballed over to start paying off the Hubby's car. Fingers crossed we can get his paid off by the end of October!

The quicker we get his car paid off, the quicker we can work on having one of these:

Isn't she a cutie? And doesn't Dan look like a natural? My best friend (you might remember her as my matron of honor) had her second child on the 5th. Her first child was a boy, and this time around she and her husband were blessed with a little girl.

Now, I've never really had "baby fever" like some of my friends have had. Maybe it's because I've been surrounded by babies and children since high school. But I'll tell you what - spending time with this little cutie makes me more and more excited about the thought of starting our own family.

But honestly, Dan and I are still enjoying just being the two of us. We've been married nearly a year and half now, so we're not in a rush to end this "newlywed" phase. Although we're trying not to spend a whole lot of money on unnecessary things so we can pay things off quicker, we still try to set aside some money to enjoy a date night every now and then.

Every time we go grocery shopping I see this little frozen yogurt shop in the shopping plaza in front of Wal-Mart. My students have told me about it and how much they love it. I've been trying to talk Dan into going for months now. He said he couldn't imagine liking frozen yogurt if he didn't like regular yogurt. But, after plenty of begging, he agreed to go out for dessert one night. And guess what? He loved it! This is one of those times I like to say "I told you so!"

For the most part though, we've been spending most of our time lounging around the house...

I've had some health issues lately, so I haven't been in much of a mood to get out of the apartment and do anything. Heck, if you saw the state of our apartment right now, you'd think we were the biggest slobs. I'm sure our poor roommate is growing frustrated by our lack of cleaning lately. Oh well. Can't win them all, can you?

So that's the gist of what's been happening in our lives lately. A lot of relaxing with some moments of excitement scattered throughout. Health issues aside, I can't complain. I'm counting down the days until Spring Break. What have you been up to lately?

Not Normal

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During lunch I checked my phone to see if there were any messages that had come in during the morning. The hubby had sent me a text saying that he thinks friends of ours had put an offer in on a house. Had no idea they were even looking. I mean, we both knew they were upset with their current living arrangement, but we didn't know they were going to take that big of a leap to fix it. I logged on Facebook, and sure enough, there was a status update about an offer being accepted along with a link to the property. Not bad. Builder basic. But definitely nice. Especially for first time home buyers like our friends are.

But then it hit me. I'm not sure how to describe the feeling exactly... guilt? like I'm on the wrong track? I feel like society dictates the order in which we're suppose to live our lives. First you meet a guy. Then the ring. Then the vows. Then the house. Then the kids. I mean, that's the ideal, right? Yet there are so many people that do things out of order nowadays. How many couples move in together before they get married? How many children are born out of wedlock every single day?

The hubby and I have a plan. We talk about it quite frequently. Sure, we make changes to it occasionally, but the basic plan has always remained. No house until all of the debts in our names are paid off. No house until we have a decent emergency savings fund built up. No house until we can put some sort of down payment on it. And that's going to take a while. We may or may not have our first kid before we even buy our first house.

Usually, that's okay with me. That's okay with us.

But yet... days like today, I still have this feeling like we're doing something wrong. Like we're going against what society says. Like we're going out of order.

And then I have to remind myself... we're not normal. We're not like everyone else. We're not going by what society tells us to do.

As soon as I remind myself of that fact, I remind myself of our plan. The plan we talk about most nights before going to bed. The plan we talk about over the weekends while sitting on the couch. The plan we talk about on long road trips. The plan and dreams we have for our future. And I'm reminded that our plan makes me feel safe. The idea of feeling safe and secure in our future makes a whole lot more sense than trying to fit into the mold that society deems to be "normal."

If "normal" means going into debt to the point where money stresses me out, then I don't want to be normal. I'm looking forward to the day where I control money and money is not controlling me. And if it takes being "weird" to get there, then sign me up!

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Weekend Adventures: Road Trip & Unpacking

As I mentioned last week, the Hubby and I went on a little road trip to go see his brother, Brian, who lives near Atlanta. As soon as I got home on Friday, we loaded up the car and hit the road. 

We made one stop for dinner and only took one potty break. It took about 7 hours to get to Brian's new house. To entertain ourselves, we listened to the Dave Ramsey show on iHeart Radio.

We got in about midnight Friday, then stayed up late and talked for a little while. In the morning, the hubby snapped a pic of their new home with his cell phone. Unfortunately, we were so busy unpacking boxes and fixing things up around the house that we both forgot to snap any other photos during our trip of the house. Bad blogger, I know.

They (meaning Brian and his girlfriend) bought a really cute, old brick home in Marietta. It's got 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and a sun room. There's also a barn, shed, 2-car carport, and a green house in the backyard. It's got a lot of things that need updating and a lot of things that need fixing up. But I think they are both up for the challenge and even excited to have projects to work on.

Saturday night, after working most of the morning and shopping in the afternoon, we cleaned up and head out for a little walk around downtown Marietta. There was some sort of street art festival going on. But we didn't get the memo, so by the time we got there, all the vendors had packed up for the evening. Some of the funniest pieces were these porta potties that people had decorated.

After walking around the little town square, we decided it was time for dessert and headed over to our go-to spot when we visit Brian - the Marietta Diner.

You might remember this bad boy from our last trip to Marietta. Yep, the Butterfinger Cheesecake returns! This time around I split it with the Hubby rather than keeping all the yumminess to myself. 

Sunday was more unpacking and organizing. At one point, they needed to run back out to Lowe's to return some stuff. I decided to hang back and enjoy some peace and quiet. I flipped through the new Ikea catalog. While I was relaxing, the cats, Scooter & Jack, waited patiently by the door for everyone to return. 

Before we left Monday morning, we woke up really early so that we could make one last trip to the diner for breakfast. The french toast was delicious! And this time, the service was actually really good! If I haven't said it before, I'll say it now: You don't go to the Diner looking for good service, you go to the Diner for the food. And this trip I was pleasantly surprised.

We said our goodbyes in the parking lot and headed back to Central Florida. This time we made the trip in 6 hours by cutting out a food stop and only adding one potty break. 

So that was our quick weekend trip up to Atlanta to visit with the Hubby's side of the family. Hopefully next time we're in Georgia we'll be able to visit with my side of the family as well. And maybe even visit with an old family friend?

What did you guys do this Labor Day weekend? Any road trips? Or maybe you just stayed home and worked on some projects around the house? Or maybe you just sat around and took the time to relax with the family? Would love to hear from you!

Passion

#8. What are 5 passions that you have?

1. MY MARRIAGE

I think this one goes without much explanation. I love my husband. He's my best friend. I love the relationship we have. And I plan on doing everything within my power to keep our marriage strong. I don't want to be a divorce statistic.

2. MY FAMILY

This applies to the family I grew up with, the family I married into, and the family the husband and I have started and will continue to build in the future. As much as my family can drive me crazy, I still love them and want the best for them. Whenever possible I try to help where I'm needed. Mostly that puts me in the role of "sounding board" and I'm okay with that.

3. EDUCATION

Considering I'm a teacher, this one should come as no surprise. I believe having an education is key. Sure, you may not get a job in the degree you study. But just having a desire to learn something new - to seek out new ideas - will take you far.

4. FINANCIAL FREEDOM

To be debt free is a passion that's slowly growing inside of me. The hubby and I have officially started working on our debt snowball, and seeing the payoff amount numbers drop each month is exciting. I cannot wait until we're finally controling our money rather than our money controlling us.

5. FINDING A GOOD DEAL

Although this one could technically tie into "Financial Freedom," this has been a passion of mine long before the desire to be debt free. Being able to find a deal and save money wherever possible seriously brings a smile to my face. Thrift stores and clearance bins are my idea of a good time.

What are you passionate about?

Halloween Party Pooper

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I guess now is the time where I say the obligatory "Happy Halloween" to everyone out there. But honestly, the title of the post could very easily describe me. I didn't go to a Halloween Party this year - though the fiance and I were both invited to one. I think we've been invited to this party for the last few years, but something always comes up. The fiance has a "go to" costume that he uses every year, but I didn't have a costume, and I didn't think I could make one out of the stuff that's already hanging in my closet. Plus, we got an invite to a birthday dinner, which we both decided we wanted to go to more.

Our school has an early childhood program, and thus a daycare center. The Tiny Tots (what we called them) went trick-or-treating around the campus today. Teachers were suppose to sign up for the little ones to come to their room for candy. For the second year, I chose not to sign up. Both times it was for the same reason - I didn't exactly have the money in the budget to buy candy. But then I beat myself up over it because I could have easily gone to the dollar store and bought some cheap candy. But, I didn't feel like going to the store. Does that make me a bad person?

And then, tonight... Tonight there are going to be dozens of kids running around our apartment complex dressed up in their costumes, knocking on doors with pumpkins on them. See, our complex has this pumpkin rule. Since we don't have porch lights, we are suppose to hang a designated pumpkin on our door if we have candy for treat-or-treaters. But alas, no pumpkin will be hanging on our door. Why? Well, the same reason I didn't sign up for the Tiny Tots. I don't feel like I have the money to spend on candy, nor did I want to make a special trip to the store.

Our budget is tight with the wedding only 2 weeks away. And I just can't talk myself into purchasing a large bag of sweets for the purpose of handing it out to strangers. Besides, last year I bought 2 small bags of candy last year for the complex treat-or-treaters, and only 3 kids showed up. The fiance and I ended up eating the rest of the candy ourselves. Although some might say that's not necessarily a bad thing - when we're both trying to lose weight, it sorta is. The more temptations we have in front of us, the less poundage we see disappearing on the scales.

But does this make me a bad person? Not giving into the hype that is Halloween? I mean, really, what is the point?? Sure, it's fun to get dressed up and get free candy....if you're 5 years old! But as an adult, is there really a point? I'm sure once I have kids of my own, I'll feel differently about the holiday. Or maybe not - at that point it will cost even more to participate!

Reading these articles (here and here) on Dave Ramsey's website has helped me lose some of the party-pooper guilt. I've set my priorities, and Halloween candy and costumes simply aren't one of them. And I don't think there is anything wrong with that.

Disclaimer: Dave Ramsey doesn't know me or anything about this little blog, so he in no way endorsed my inclusion of articles from his website. I went through one of his Financial Peace University courses a few years ago, and I have officially jumped on the "Ramsey Bandwagon."