Hotdogs, a job, and lots of new things!

Yesterday we went to a hotdog eating contest to raise publicity for the upcoming Erwin-Enka Alumni Football game. 

You should come.

It's tomorrow.

At 7pm.

John ate like 8 hotdogs, one guy was eating 2 at a time. 

I threw up a little.

Those of you who know me know that I hate a hotdog! Even the smell of a hotdog  makes me sick to my stomach. 

So you can imagine how sick I felt while watching about 12 grown men scarfing down 2 hotdogs at a time while dipping the buns in water to make them softer/soggy.

I'm gagging just thinking about it.

However...

 Something that doesn't make me wanna gag is the fact that I finally got a part time job! 

At...

 White House Black Market

I worked there and helped set up the store before/when they first opened a couple of years ago in Biltmore Village and I'm excited to be back.

And even more excited about the discount.

So to celebrate I bought some new clothes...

because we can only wear black and white and any other of the featured colors. 

so...

I got this stuff...

Super cute braided rope sandals. I wanted them in every color...but resisted and only got black.

And this shirt...you can't see it well in the picture but it has a cute key hole in the back.

And these great skirts! I've wanted them for a while and finally had a great excuse to buy them!

I <3 target.

And while writing this my new sunglasses came in the mail.

They are purple and super great!

{Disregard the crazy hair}

and this came...

it's a broom groomer!
Genius!

And also the new mattress set that John ordered for us came too.
I'll post pictures tomorrow.






Don't forget to come to the football game tomorrow!

No sleep, TV, and Crazy Allergies...

The title says it all...

I just can't sleep when John isn't here. So last night, like many nights when he is working, I found lots of other things to do instead of sleep.

Like finishing all the episodes of Locked Up on Netflix.

And scrolling through all of the Top 10 recommendations for me...

 Random List

Wicked Attraction

Intervention

I Shouldn't Be Alive

Fatal Attractions

Grey's Anatomy

Gangland

Bridezillas

Caught on Camera

Desperate Housewives

Pretty Little Liars

I chose Pretty Little Liars.

Don't Judge.

I had never even heard of it till now. 

And I'll probably watch the whole season.

Today.

In other news...

My allergies are out of control. 

Like... more than normal.

Like... so bad I'm sure my eyes will never be the same.

Not sure why I said "like" two times...

I'll blame it on allergies. 

Pizza Pull Apart Bread

I love pizza.

I could eat it everyday. Really...Ask my husband.

So when I saw this on Pinterest...I was instantly obsessed with the idea of making it and eating it. 

All of it.

Some times I would just find myself looking at it...imagining how good it would taste.

So...today...I decided I had nothing else to do other than to make Pizza Pull Apart Bread.

And eat it. 

The original Pin was from here. Her pictures are much prettier than mine.

Judge away.

I basically used that recipe but I changed it up a little.

Here is what you need:

• 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 2 Tbsp butter
• about 2 lbs pizza dough (I think I had a little less)
• 1 package weight watchers string cheese (I had like 4 left over)
• 1 package of turkey pepperoni ( I had about 15 pieces left over)
• pizza sauce

{If you are super ambitious you could make your own dough and sauce, but that wasn't me today}

Here is what you do:

1. Heat garlic and butter of medium heat until the garlic starts to brown. Remove from heat and set aside
2. Lightly brush the inside of the bundt pan with the garlic butter mixture.
3. Pull off large marble size pieces of dough and flatten. Top with a piece of pepperoni and small portion of one piece of string cheese.
4. Wrap the dough around the pepperoni and cheese and pinch to seal.
5. Lightly dip each one into the garlic butter.
6. Do this about a billion times until all the dough is used.
7. Cover and let sit for 30 minutes while you preheat the oven to 400
8. Bake for about 30 or 35 minutes until top is brown.
9. Serve with pizza sauce.
10. Eat!

 

It was yum!

Kitchen Sink Soap Stand!

A week or so ago I saw this on Pinterest!

Why didn't I think of that? That is so much better than having dish soap, hand soap, dish drain stopper thingies, and scrubbers and/or cloths strewn about the sink.

So I made my own. 

You can check out the original crafter here.

She used a candlestick, painted it green, and then attached a plate to the top. 

I originally got all of this stuff.

Because I couldn't decide if I wanted to make this or this.

or something in-between...

But after playing around with different set ups I decided that I would only use the smaller blue plate and the vase. I saved the other plate and bowl for something else.

I found the plate at Kohls for like $1 and the vase at A.C. Moore for about $1.50. I already had the spray paint at home for another project. 

I chose these colors because they match the color scheme we already have going on in the kitchen with the curtains, artwork, and linens.

The firs thing I did was spray paint the glass vase. It only took a couple of coats and it dried super quick because it is super hot outside. I also sprayed 1 coat of paint on the underside of the blue plate (it was white). 

I then waited {three days} for everything to dry {mostly because I forgot that I left it on the front porch and then it got rained on...} 

I first tried to use hot glue to attach the bottom of the vase to the bottom of the plate but it didn't work too well...I'm not sure if it just wasn't the best choice for attaching glass to plastic or if I just didn't put enough or if I'm just not patient enough.

I ended up using superglue. 

It worked. 

Please ignore the gigantic bottle of dish soap and the mismatched drain stopper thingies.

I still really want to make this. But I don't know what I would use it for...any suggestions?

And I want to make this too.

Dollywood!

Today we (my mom, dad, brother, brother's girlfriend Lena, and our friends Drew, Ben, Courtney, John and I went to Dollywood.

It is a rarity that everyone has the same day off work!

We used to get season passes all the time when we were kids...and go alllll the time.

But I hadn't been in about seven or eight years.

I was so nice to spend some time with the family. 

We rode lots of rides like:

the Barnstormer

which  I can't tell you much about because I was too busy trying not to vomit. It is like the dreaded pirate ship that goes baaack and forth...

 

Blazing Fury

was my very favorite ride as a kid and teenager. Fire in the Hole!

Daredevil Falls

is a great water ride. Who doesn't love that?

Dollywood Express

is the train. I am not a train person but I rode it anyway.

 

 

Mountain Slidewinder

has about a three mile hike up to the actual ride and then a one second ride down...but it is waay fun and watery!

Tennessee Tornado

Upside down!

 

Smokey Mountain River Rampage

Love! Got drenched on this one!

Thunderhead

Another new one for me...and I had my eyes closed the whole time!

the Village Carousel

super great because not only are there horses but also pigs and catfish and dragons and reindeer and other crazy animals to ride!

Mystery Mine

Fun!

We ate lunch at this all you can eat buffet and got Dustin, Lena, Courtney, Ben, and Drew all got yelled at by an old lady. 

FYI: If we had eaten at the Pizza Place...that wouldn't of happened. 

 

Today I realized:

that I am much more likely to get nauseous on a roller-coaster than 10 years ago

amusement parks smell bad

I still don't like trains

I am old

and....

a lot of people choose very very very bad tattoos and even worse places to permanently ink them on their bodies!

gotta love Pigeon Forge...

My Estate Sale Find...

Today we went to an estate sale in Mars Hill. John randomly found it online while searching for couches...yeah...we don't have a couch...just a bunch of chairs...

Thats another blog...

 We drove out to Mars Hill and then down a super curvy road for about 45678 miles...with me as the navigator...

a job that I am super good at....

John: Whats the next turn?

Me: Ummm this way (pointing) in about a mile or so...

John: Which way is "this" way?

Me: I think I might throw up...

I get car sick if i look over at the radio to change the station...

so picture me in the passenger seat...trying to figure out how to work the navigation system on John's phone...

I forgot to mention...I'm as good with technology as I am navigating.

But despite my technology skills, navigation skills, and lack of skills to not throw up we made it to the estate sale.

There was a ton of really cool antique stuff...and I wanted everything I saw.

I am sure I had an idea for every old thing I saw today...thanks to Pinterest!

I found this beautiful antique door painted turquoise...

I really wanted to buy it and use it as a headboard...

just like this.

I also saw this really beautiful pie safe...that looked a lot like this.

Only it was a lot bigger and white...

And I just spent the last hour figuring that it's called a pie safe. The little metal square things that have pierced holes in them are for ventilation for pies after baking.

I think it was probably to hid food from hungry husbands until it was time to eat. 

Just saying...

There were so many incredible things there!

I bought this really awesome Polaroid camera.

I can't wait to order some film and use it!

John also got a really great reclining camping chair for $5.00!

Dollywood tomorrow!

More Productive...

Today was a much more productive day than yesterday....even if I didn't go to bed until 7:30 this morning.

I just can't sleep when John is working at night...

So last night while not sleeping...I came up with my 101 things to do in 1001 days list and also my 31 day blog challenge.

I'll be starting both on July 1st!

Exciting news for today? 

I went to target!

I'll Do Better...

I find myself saying that a lot. I'll be a better teacher, housekeeper, friend, wife, Christian...and the list goes on and on....

And I know that am not a bad...teacher, housekeeper, friend, wife, or Christian...but I could do better. I can always do better. 

But lately I've been thinking...my students love me, my friends love me, my husband loves, and my Lord loves me. 

Does it get any better than that?

Don't misunderstand...I'm not saying that I'm perfect...I'm as far away as can be..

{For example... today...my activities consisted of blogg[ing], summer job look[ing], etsy[ing], facbook[ing], email[ing], groupon[ing], pinterest[ing], netflix[ing], words with friends[ing], draw something[ing], and being obsessive compulsive [ing?]}

But I'm not going to be so hard on myself. I'm doing okay.

That being said. There are some things that I want to do for me....

I want to take time everyday...or...so... to reflect. To reflect on great goodies, sad somethings, happy happenings, loving life.

Today while being not so productive I ran across this on Adrian's Blog.

First of all...I love that I am not the only one who occasionally forgets about blogging. Secondly...I love the idea of a month long blog challenge. And thirdly...let's be honest...a summer job is not looking very promising right now and I need something to do with all my free time!

I also found this on Adrian's Blog as well...

Isn't her blog pretty? I'm not so tech savvy...maybe I can talk my {super cute} husband into making my blog snazzy...we shall see....

Anyway it's called the Zero Day Project. It's from this website and it is a challenge for {me} to create a list of 101 things I want to do in 1001 days. I LOVE this idea!

And lastly I want to do some sort of photo challenge...but I don't have anything in mind yet. So if any of you have an idea...let me know!

In my last post...here...I shared with you all The Happiness Project Journal that I got John for our first anniversary...we have been pretty good about writing in it on a daily basis...and we when forget...i just play catchup the next day. I love that we do this together and at the end of the 5 year record the book provides that we will have it to look back on. 

So...I'll do better...reflect...

It's been a while...

It’s been a while…

I haven’t written in forever! Things got super busy our anniversary, the school year winding down, Special Olympics, and bible school at church…But now its summer!

Speaking of summer, I still haven’t found a summer job! I’ve looked and applied everywhere! So if anyone out there knows of anywhere that might be hiring…please let me know!

Since I wrote last…John and I got new phones! We finally joined the 21^st century and got smart phones! And now I’m not sure how on earth I survived without being about to Google anything at any time at anyplace. A big reason that I wanted to switch phones was so I could easily track and keep up with my points for weight watchers….so when I was within two tenths of a pound away from my first set goal weight…I was so happy and so sure that I would meet it very soon!  But…the next time I went to weigh in (about 3 days later) I had gained two tenths of a pound!

I went home and cried. Since then I have not been so great with sticking to the plan and going to the gym like I should. I haven’t lost any more weight but one really great thing is that I haven’t GAINED any weight either. I am getting back on track this week!

In other news…

 John and I celebrated 6 years of being together. Our first date was on May 5, 2006. I was still at Gardner-Webb University and John was living in Asheville. He came to visit and we went out to eat at Ruby Tuesday and watched a movie. Every year we go to Ruby Tuesday on Cinco de Mayo to celebrate…this year being no exception. We also went to the Pisgah-Tuscola Alumni Football Game…

So the obsession begins…

John really liked the idea of getting together a bunch of guys that used to play for Erwin (his school) and having a football game against their rivals, Enka. To make a long story short he did it…and the game is June 30^th at 7! Come out and watch my {super cute} husband and a bunch of other guys relive their glory days. It will be a lot of fun and if you buy your tickets before- hand a portion of the proceeds go to help a local coach pay for medical bills.

Also, I made this fabulous pizza!

And it was amazing!

All you need is:

·        Pizza crust (I used a store bought crust but you could make your own if you wanted to. I used Rustic Crust Thin & Crispy Italian Thin Crust)

·        ½ tsp. garlic powder

·        1tsp dried oregano

·        10 oz. chopped frozen spinach

·        1 large fresh tomato

·        1 cup Fat Free Ricotta Cheese

·        ½ cup Fat Free Feta Cheese

All you do is:

·        Preheat oven to 400°

·        Combine ricotta and garlic powder and spoon mixture over crust (don’t get it too close to the edges…stop about ½ inch away).

·        Top with spinach, tomato, and feta.

·         Sprinkle with oregano. Bake until edges are golden (about 12 minutes or so).

It was so yum and only 4 points per piece. We had 8 pieces total. 

What else you ask?

Memorial Day Weekend!

Our first anniversary!

We had anniversary pictures taken by the wonderful Kendall Chandler of Sister’s Photography! I’ve known Kendall and Kelly my whole life and love them like family; they do great work and also did my bridal portraits

And our wedding pictures too!

We were going to go somewhere for our anniversary but John torn a hamstring in his leg so we decided to stay home at the last minute. We exchanged the traditional 1^st year anniversary gifts of paper. John got me a reservation for a class at Paint and Mingle and we had sooo much fun! It’s this awesome place where you can take snacks and such and learn to paint a painting (of all things!) and have fun with others! Here are the paintings we did.

I got him this journal

It’s the Happiness Project Journal…it’s a one sentence a day journal for five years. So far we have had a lot of fun writing in it every night before bed. It will be great to look back on these years later in life. I also got him a map…so we can plan vacations together and a really cool paper puzzle thingy.

Shortly after that school ended! I made it through my first year teaching! :)

Then we went to Raleigh, NC for the North Carolina Special Olympics Summer Games. Our power lifters did amazing! So proud of them!

And then Bible School started. I’ve been involved with Bible School at my church for as long as I can remember. I am so grateful to my parents for raising my brother and me in such a great church family. If you are in need of a church community ...you should come check us out at Maple Ridge Baptist Church. 

Then…my cousin and his wife had their precious baby boy. Colton Jack Robinson came into this world on June 10 and we got to go see him that day! He is precious! 

Have I mentioned I’m slightly baby-crazy?

Which brings me slightly up-to-date. 

This week I recycled crayons and made some new ones! It was a super cool and easy way to reuse the broken and gross crayons from my classroom instead of having to throw them away. 

Step 1- lots of old and broken crayons! I just saved all the ones from my classroom this year.

Step 2-take off all the paper. It is much easier to use a razor blade when doing this…rather than peeling each paper wrapper off each crayon. Carefully use a razor blade to glide down the side of the crayon where the seam is in the paper…then just simply pull it off.

Step 3- sort the crayons by color. If you want to make multi-colored crayons you can skip this part.

Step 4- break or cut the crayons into small pieces and put them into cyclone cups. I also put the cyclone cups into a cheap muffin tin I bought from the dollar store. This helps catch any spills during the melting process.

Step 5- Carefully remove from the oven and let cool for a couple of minutes, you don’t want to let them sit too long or the hardening process will begin. Then pour them into a mold or popsicle maker thing that you get from the dollar store. The first round was a little messy but I got the hang of it by the end…but I forgot to take a picture of the less messy sets. 

Step 6- Cool the melted crayons in the fridge…make sure they are completely hardened before removing. Most of the crayons came out easily after setting in the fridge for an hour or so. If you have trouble getting them out run cool water over the outsides. 

I am so happy with the way these turned out! Not only is it great to be able to reuse supplies from last year but the shapes are easy for young children or children with fine motor delays to hold and use.

You could use this basic concept to do lots of different shapes, sizes, colors, and crafts!

I plan on doing at least 1 classroom project a week this summer to get ready for August! I’ll try to share as many as I can with you!