I love going to thrift stores and seeing if I can find great deals on books, holiday decor, and stuff like that. Lately I've been finding stuff to "upcycle." One Saturday in July Arnold and I spent the whole day together, driving from Conover down towards Charlotte, and stopping at all the thrift stores. We first stopped at a HUGE one and it was pretty impressive. But all the clothes were arranged by color, and not size (who does that?!) so it took forever to sort through things. They had a whole wall of books, but I've read so much in my lifetime that it was hard finding something I didn't already read, have at home, or that I was actually interested in. We did find some cool things though, and we had a great time together. Now that the kids are older, its easier for us to get out and spend some time together every once in awhile. I always remind my friends with little kids that it WILL get easier one day! ;)
I am starting back to college on August 16th. Arnold said it was time to get a new laptop for me to do my School work on (and he is extra excited to get one because he can use it too ;) And I am in love with how fast it is! I can even use it to blog, which is an added perk ;)
My mom gave me some money for my birthday and I wasn't really sure what to spend it on. One night we went into Hobby Lobby and I saw they had all their Fall stuff out, and it was on sale, so I picked up some adorable things, and used some of that money, and then I didn't feel guilty ;) Haha. Spring is actually my favorite season, but I LOVE decorating for fall the most! It is going to be hard for me to resist decorating early this year!
Every so often Brooke goes over to her Boyfriend's house for dinner, and Rachel usually tags along because she's friends with his sister. So on those nights, I usually go out to dinner with just my guys! Caleb is really into hot wings right now, so it kinda became tradition to go to East Coast Wings. The guys are happy with their chicken and I am happy with their homemade chips and ranch (YUM!)
We are really enjoying the new church we have been going to. We have been going just about every Sunday.. sometimes we stay at home and watch the service on the tv if its extra hot that day. The kids have joined the youth group and I love that the youth pastor is so fun and welcoming, and he has made the transition easier for them. One night we went to a dinner and service and we had an extra seat at our table, so the pastor came over and sat down right next to me!!!! Everyone knows how shy I am so I was just loving that ;) But for real, he is an awesome man, and he is so energetic and passionate in every message he gives, and I always stay engaged and never bored or anything, and I always get something out of what he says. It's an added bonus that my 2nd mom Katie attends the same church ;)
The church actually holds services outside, which is something I've never experienced before. We go inside if its raining or snowing, but other than that, you deal with the heat or cold! I love the extra space out there, and being with the nature. It has been tough on the over 90 degree days, and I am looking forward to Fall to sit out there and watch the leaves change! Anyway, on 4th of July Sunday they had fireworks after the service!!! And they handed out bomb pops to the kids/teens as they left the service. It is just an amazing place to be, and everyone we've met so far has been so nice and welcoming. If anyone local wants to try a new church, come visit with us!!
Ruby is growing up! She is officially used to be in our family, and she thinks she rules the house ;) She had her first vet visit recently and they said she was so healthy! They also all talked about how pretty she was ;) She was especially mad at me when I put her into the little cat carrier, because she didn't understand what was going on. But she did great. For someone who "doesn't like cats" Arnold sure does sit with her a lot! ;) She loves to go over to him at night and curl up beside him. If I am laying down reading, she will often jump on my stomach and just make herself at home :D We have to watch out when we're eating because she tries to steal food from us every time. She especially is drawn to sweet things.. she tried to drink my tea one night :D
Another Saturday of the month Arnold and I headed to the mountains for the afternoon. We love driving up there, talking, singing to music, and looking at the pretty scenery. This past time we stopped for dinner at an Italian place we had never heard of before. After we had already sat down we noticed the sanitation score.. which was not so great. But we gave it a shot. The salad, tea, and bread was pretty good. But my lasagna was NOT. I don't even think it was cooked all the way through. I was not very happy, but I wasn't mean about it... I actually fibbed to the sweet man who asked me how it was :D haha. But now I know we will not be going back. And its a shame too.. because I love lasagna.
A long while back, we had a new roof put on our house. The company we hired did NOT end up doing a great job, and over time we have dealt with a leak when it rains really hard. After all this time its gotten pretty bad, so we finally decided to get someone out to fix the roof and knock down our chimney since we never use our fireplace and that's where the leak was worst. Everyone these days is backed up and it took forever to get someone out, but they worked hard and were done in 2 days. They did show up at 7am and start pounding LOUDLY on our roof which was no fun, but I understand they had to come early to beat the heat. I occasionally heard Led Zeppelin being played on the roof, and saw guys walking through my front yard a lot (sometimes without shirts on lol) but so far so good, and we haven't noticed any leaks so far! We have someone else scheduled to come out soon and replace the area of our living room wall that was damaged from the water. I am so ready to get all this over with! Arnold took some pics of all the junk on the ground when they were working. They did clean it all up nicely though!
We recently spend a Saturday evening at my parents house and had dinner. Beforehand when we were waiting on it to cook, mom mentioned she needed to snap some green beans for another upcoming dinner. Our kids were like what the heck are you talking about? I can't believe they didn't know about that, but then I thought about how kids these days are so different. I used to have to help my Grandparents and parents snap beans when I was a kid! It was always a job that took forever so they used all the hands they could get! So I told Caleb and Brooke they should help their grandma out! We showed them how to do it. At first Caleb was breaking them into teeny bits, haha. And some ended up really big and my mom said I WILL CHOKE ON THESE! haha! But eventually they got them all done, and I loved them having bonding time with my Mom. They need to learn some more old-fashioned skills now!
I mentioned in my last blog that Brooke made the cheer squad for her highschool! I am so proud of her because she has wanted it for so long. Anyway, she has had practices this summer and she has been learning a lot. This past Saturday they had a mini camp for young girls who wanted to learn cheers. They were broken in to groups and Brooke helped teach the upper-elementary girls. All the parents were invited at the end of the camp to watch the girls perform and at the end the high school team did a dance, too! I was loving the dance.. it was so great and I'm amazed at how fast the girls learned that! They really have put in some hard work! Brooke gets so tired after practices and has to come home and take a nap most days ;) I was getting emotional during the dance, while I was recording her. I just know how much she always wanted it. She used to see the older cheerleader girls and say that one day that would be her. And she did it! The clothes and their uniform orders came in the other day and she was so excited to show we all her stuff. Thank goodness her uniform fit! Arnold and I had to measure her the old-fashioned way, getting the inches of every area of her and we were so nervous we did it wrong, but I guess not!
Brooke also had all her grandparents show up to see her (except my dad because he was having some back pain that day) and us, and her siblings. We were a tiny cheer team ourselves, and I hope we didn't embarrass her! I love this pic with her and my mom. She acts like she's "too cool" for stuff these days, but I know she was thrilled to have them show up for her! :)
