Car Adventures

I'm all settled into my new home now. I still need to take some boxes back to storage though - that's a project for Sunday since the storage facility is near church. I've been running around a lot though, so I haven't spent a whole lot of time at the house yet. I'm assuming that will happen starting next week, since this weekend is likely going to be busy.

So I'm working about two hours from home right now thanks to a last minute client need. I managed to lock my keys in the car yesterday. And then because of a few complications, I ended up waiting 3 hours for AAA to come unlock my car. And then the 2 hour drive home. Last night was not the most fun night, but I still managed to get to bed at a decent hour.

Things have been really busy lately, and perhaps it's time to realize that things will not really slow down. I can, however, avoid stress from it. And I can say no when things are really too busy. So perhaps this next four months is supposed to teach me this too. How to find peace even when things are insane.

Almost finished in this apartment

I am moving out of my apartment and into a lovely townhouse about 30 minutes away (to be closer to work and friends while not going too far from my wonderful church). I'm hoping to get everything moved on Tuesday or Wednesday next week, depending on when the owner of the house is okay with it.

Until about a week and a half ago, I had been planning to live with my friend Amber in an apartment of our choosing. But last minute, Amber had to back out and I had to scramble to find another place to live that wouldn't break the bank. I have been so blessed. I asked my pastor to pray that I would find a place, and suddenly I had offers all over the place. I settled on living with a friend of a friend who has a house near my office. I'll have my own bedroom and bathroom, and I'll get to learn what it's like to live with multiple animals (two dogs and two cats). I'm really looking forward to this.

I have finally gotten around to starting the packing process. On Friday, I had the whole place to myself, so I pulled apart all the little places Katie and I had been using to store random junk in the living and dining rooms. My cookware collection was living on the dining room floor because I had nowhere else to put it! So I moved all of that into the kitchen to wash before packing. And then I attacked everything in the living and dining rooms. I even rearranged the furniture to make it easier for me to move everything out. It took me 5 hours to go through everything, but I had 4 bags of trash (junk that had piled up that I couldn't give to goodwill). It looks so much nicer in here now.

I also packed up all my movies and gaming systems (and games) to prevent myself from getting distracted and playing games when I should be packing. And I have 5 boxes of books packed. It's progress. This week after work, my awesome friend Laura and I will be cleaning and packing my room. I intend to live out of a suitcase for about a week so that I can box up everything else this week. I still haven't chosen my clothing to keep available, but almost everything that's clothing is going into plastic bags until I can wash it all (and not pay $3.25 per wash/dry!). So one of my first projects when I move is laundry, and while I'm waiting for that to happen, I'll be unpacking.

At least I'm taking vacation next week to make it easier to deal with the move. I'm really hopeful that I will have a chance to rest most of the time. I haven't had a real vacation when I haven't been sick (or gotten sick over vacation, which was the case for Christmas 2007 since I was hospitalized right at the end of vacation) since February 2007! It's been way way too long. I'm attempting to fix that as of next week. I'm already planning to take off Christmas to New Years this year and take at least 3 full weeks of vacation next year (not in a row).

Meal Plan Monday (er... tuesday)

Things have been so busy I didn't get a chance to post this yet.

Monday: leftovers
Tuesday: crab cakes, rice, and veggies
Wednesday: steak stir-fry
Thursday: rice and beans
Friday-Monday: leftovers

I'm finding that 3 meals is more than enough for each week as long as I get fruit and a couple small snacks. That way, I spend very very little on food and am eating more variety than I did before doing this.

Result from the grocery store

I just wanted to say that somehow I spent $10 less than I thought I would at the grocery store (which made the difference between a couple dollars over budget and a bit under budget - I had reasoned that it was okay anyway since I was getting something on sale that I love and will eat next week anyway). Even after realizing that I would have to buy more cheese (which was not planned at all), I decided to reduce the amount of one thing I got (for Josh) and eliminate the treat for myself since I was on the fence about it anyway. I'm sure that I can spend less in the future, but I got exactly what I wanted, only got those things, and managed to easily be under budget. Oh, and I got free bread from the bakery thanks to a coupon I got the last time I was in the store. I don't remember the last time I had bakery bread (it may have been never). Go me!

Meal Planning

Wow, I have been pretty horrendous about posting. Things have been insanely busy this month and it's not really slowing down. One of (many) saving graces of this month has been learning to make casseroles without a recipe. I made two this month and I much preferred the second, which has ground turkey (browned first and then with taco seasoning added), 1/4 bag frozen spinach, 1 cup rice, black-eyed peas, and some edamame with a layer of colby jack cheese on top. One hour in the oven at 300 degrees. It turned out pretty awesome.

I'm also making another attempt at meal planning. And this time, I did it according to the sales at the grocery store this week and made the grocery list and kept it at budget. I'm pretty happy with it. I got the inspiration from OrgJunkie and her Menu Plan Monday. So here's my menu plan for this week:

Monday: leftovers and party food for dessert (I help with youth group at church and we're having a going away party for two of the kids who are moving to FL at the end of the week)
Tuesday: London Broil with Mushrooms and green beans
Wednesday: Mahi Mahi with rice
Thursday: turkey franks (something to try), baked potatoes (w cheese), and summer squash
Friday: leftovers
Weekend is always up in the air, and I usually have extra leftovers and such. So no planning for that.



I have not tried either of these recipes before, but I have almost all of the ingredients already and I'm trying to use what I have before I move in 3 weeks. So I'm keeping my shopping to a minimum. I am also trying to increase the amount of fruit in my diet, so I'm buying some with the knowledge that if I don't finish it I can bring it to youth group on Monday night next week in a fruit salad. But I'm limiting how much I get so I have a chance at being able to finish it on my own. And if it's not enough, then I can add more next week.

Sick Days

So I got sick on Wednesday on the way home from work. All of a sudden I was dizzy and uncomfortable. And I had a fever and a cough by the time I was home. I continued to feel worse and add symptoms over the next 24 hours. I stayed home until Friday morning when I went to the doctor. And I got a flu test. And now I'm not allowed to leave the apartment or have guests over until the results come back. So hopefully it's negative. Especially since now Josh is sick. He's been so good to me, and now he's sick. So I gave him meds to deal with the cough and the fever and sent him to bed. Hopefully he feels better soon.

Meanwhile, my fever seems to have broken as of today. :)

I don't get sick often. Actually, the last time I had a temperature over 99 was probably more than a decade ago. And I don't remember being sick much as a kid.

Also of interest: my amazing dad turned 60 on Thursday, and my beautiful mom's birthday is tomorrow (she calls it her un-birthday).

Youth Group

Josh and I have begun volunteering at the youth group at our church. We haven't split the group into middle school and high school yet because there haven't been enough older kids yet (there are 3 I think from They only have two leaders right now, and sometimes only one can make it. So we are sorely needed just to have a couple more sets of hands and eyes. So far it's been really interesting.

Josh has already been able to help deal with the rowdy boys: they can't stop talking but they do participate and seem to want to talk about everything. They also ask a lot of questions. They're a handful but they're also a lot of fun. I'm starting to memorize names (I have 5 memorized so far). They are really growing on me and I looked forward to seeing them all day yesterday.

I've been doing recon on the girls. They have a lack of interest and don't want to be involved at all. Last night they all said they didn't want to play the game outside with the boys. The only thing I could think of was "Whoever doesn't play gets to sit and talk to me for the duration of the game." I don't know if that's what got them to play, but they all played. I had work clothes on, so I was a referee/boundary person for the game. Next week I need to make sure that I have sneakers and stuff to run around in. Because I think I've realized that I have to get engaged myself and encourage the girls from that standpoint.

I also think I need to separate the girls from the boys for a little bit. I'm thinking one night we should split them and lead them separately. That way, the girls can't avoid paying attention and answering and such. I'm going to draw them out. I'm also going to help teach them about respect.

I get the feeling that Josh and I may be leading a group on our own before too much longer, since we're going to split the group into two groups soon. I think it'll be interesting.

Over the weekend, my friends and I also went to NYC for lunch and the Forbes Museum. Despite the rain, it was nice to get out of the usual weekend and do something different and fun. I didn't take any pictures, but perhaps next time.