Blessings of Visiting Teaching

Visiting Teaching is set up so that each sister has two other sisters to help her out in times of need and befriend her. I have always loved visiting teaching, but I have not always been faithful in getting it done every month. I decided that I would do my best to make that happen. When I talked to my friend, Karen Moreton, and told her where I was moving, she told me that her sister lives in this same city! I volunteered to be her visiting teacher so I could get to know her, too. She is very ill and has no immunity. I had been sick and had to wait until I was completely over it before I could go visit her, but I finally did on Wednesday (I know! Last day of the month, but not on purpose!) She is a wonderful lady who is very friendly. I enjoyed a visit with her and brought her some homemade thin mints. As I was leaving, she told me that she had something for me, too! Then she came out with this:

A brand new mini fluted stone from Pampered Chef! How awesome is that? I was reluctant to take such a nice gift, but she wouldn't take no for an answer. She used to sell it and earned a lot of free items through her sales. I see some lava cakes and pumpkin cakes in my future ;o)

This is the (town) house where Shelly lives!

I have finally come to terms with the fact that this is going to be my home for the next three years AT LEAST. Neither Mark or Geno want to move again and I don't blame them. So, my new goal is to make this home and get used to the much smaller place. It will be so much easier to get used to after Monday when Hobby Lobby opens right next door!! A brand spankin' new store and those are my apartment buildings on the right. I can walk right over anytime I want-for the exercise, you know ;o)

This is the huge garden tub in the master bath that I was so excited about when we looked at these places. I have used it twice and then realized that it takes a ton of water to fill it up and that I actually have to get INTO the tub to clean it out! Not so thrilled about it anymore...

This is the very small kitchen that I can't seem to find enough room in. I am so used to cooking for 5-7 people every day, so I think that once I get used to only the three of us I will adjust. I am going to get two chairs for that bar once I start the real shopping and find just what I want.

This is the dining area-all set up for Halloween. The contents of that hutch are going to be completely changed out once I decide what color themes I am going to go with. Also, I think that wall will be a family photo wall. BTW, did I mention that I have a new friend here who has a degree in design and used to design for IKEA? She is going to help me with decorating the house and finding the right color scheme!

This is the beautiful screened in veranda that is just to the left of the dining area. This was definitely a bonus when we were looking for a place! We can sit outside and enjoy the weather without the bugs. Of course, right now we would have to sit on the wood floor, so that is another area that I need to furnish. I am looking forward to doing some serious bargain shopping and finding just what I am looking for to make this "HOME". Time to break out the sewing machine and save some money in the process!!

Still sorting photos...

No picture for this one-just an update. I finished gathering all of the photos and sorting them into decades yesterday afternoon. I was watching the season premiere of Bones and started thinking that there just weren't as many as I thought of the portraits taken at studios and school. As soon as Bones was over I looked into the two huge tubs with the boys' school papers, certificates, ribbons, etc. and there they were-about 200-300 more photos to sort! Well, that is all done and I am now in the phase of taking a decade and putting it in order by year. I am all the way up to the 90's-which is a shoebox stacked completely full and leaning onto something about 12 inches high to keep it from falling over and then some on the floor, too. It seems like a lot, but not as much as the 2000's! That is TWO plastic bins completely full! It will be so worth it when it is done, though ;o)

Photo Freedom!!

Last year for my birthday Geno bought me the book "Photo Freedom" by Stacy Julian.

(Ok, I bought the book and told Geno that it was his gift to me for my birthday!)

As all of my fellow scrapbooking friends know, I have organized my scrapbook stuff SO MANY times over the last few years, that I feel like I am an expert on how to organize and be able to find the right papers, ribbons, buttons, stickers, etc.

BUT...

I seem to keep placing orders for photos when there is a sale at scrapbookpictures.com and then finding out that I have already ordered the pictures from a certain event when I finally get around to making a layout! This seems to be the case mostly with Noodlebug (because he is so darn cute!) but it is such a waste of money if I'm going to end up eventually tossing it.

SO...

Here is my latest project:

The first step in the book is to gather ALL of the photos you have ANYWHERE IN THE HOUSE and bring them to one central location where you will move on to the next 5 steps and finally have all of your photos organized. Since I am one of those people who can't really focus on a project until everything is organized, I figured that I really better get this done so that I can get back to my true love-making scrapbook pages.

Of course, I will have to do some more organizing later when I finally get my MacBook Pro and have iPhoto to organize all of my digital images in, but that is one project I will gladly take on. Well, that and scanning all of my negatives to have them saved as digital images when I get my new negative/slide digital converter. I have these things on my Christmas list, so I'll keep my fingers crossed ;o)

Cadet Miller

I know! I know! It has been a while since I have posted. Well, I am supposed to be studying right now-which means that I will find anything else to do ;o) I didn't want to wait too long to post this, though.

Meet Cadet Mark Miller

Doesn't he look sharp? Mark joined the JROTC here in Alabama and he is excelling! His grades are way better than they were last year and he is really enjoying the program. His goal right now is to go to basic training between his Junior and Senior years and then go right into the military after he graduates. We took him to see the housing at Maxwell AFB last week and see the difference in the officer and enlisted housing. He said maybe college would be a good idea. I think that eventually he will go, but maybe after some time in the military first! He has never really been all that interested in school, so maybe after a few years out in the real world.

I couldn't end this post without telling what he did this past week. Mark has always had a big heart and been a very giving and caring person. We have been trying to give him more responsibility and increased his allowance along with what he now has to pay for. He has been pretty good about saving it up and I asked him how much he had left. He said that he hadn't spent any of the money except $10 for a shirt for one of the kids in his JROTC class. This boy's mother is in the hospital and Mark said that he has never mentioned a father, so he isn't sure if he lives with them or not. Mark didn't want the boy to fail because he couldn't afford the t-shirt they have to wear every Thursday. Money well spent :o)

What'll ya have? What'll ya have?

Ok, so I know that I have been MIA as far as blogging is concerned. Moving is crazy and I guess I just really wasn't up for the challenge this time. We were in 7 different states in the five days after we left Arkansas! I have lots of stories, but I will start out with a fresh one.

Geno finally got back from Germany on Friday, July 17. I picked him up at the airport in Atlanta, so I was able to make a quick run through IKEA with the extra time I had. I rushed to the airport so I would be there when he got off the plane, but didn't realize that customs would be an additional 2 hours of waiting on my part!

Of course, we are in the South and there is always some sort of entertainment to be found! When Geno told me that it would be a while, I managed to find a seat in the waiting area. I quickly realized why the previous occupant had abandoned the seat. In front of me was a group of 10-15 people who were apparently camped out there to stalk the WWE wrestlers who were arriving for a match that night. They were carrying WWE backpacks of WWE magazines, action figures, posters, trading cards, shirts...you name it-they had it! I got a perfect shot of the butt crack of the guy in charge of handing out the memorabilia to be signed every time one person would come running back to announce who they spotted in the crowd. They were so shameless as to announce whether the person was being rude about signing so that the children in the group would be sent for the autograph because "surely they won't be rude to a kid!" So, in an attempt to keep myself entertained, too, I started texting Missie about the events. We went back and forth a little bit and then I saw it! It was completely, undeniably staring me in the face. One of the guys doing the chasing (in fact, the one whose butt crack had become my regular view) had a big "Y" on his shirt. Now, most of you reading my blog already know where this is going. Certainly, it had to mean something else! When I got a side view of the sleeve instead of the back, it was totally confirmed. He was wearing a BYU t-shirt. This was a group of Mormons chasing the WWE wrestlers! Great. As if we don't already get a bad enough rap!

Geno and I decided to stay in Atlanta overnight and spend some time together since we hadn't seen each other in two weeks. On Saturday, we ate at The Varsity. Now, if you haven't been there or managed to catch them on the Food Network or Travel channel, this place is amazing! They have something like 24 registers lined up across the front and they are always packed:

Even though we were pretty far back in the line, it moved very quickly and we were sitting down in less than 10 minutes with our yummy chili dogs, chili burgers, fries, rings, and yummy apple and peach pies. Even if this isn't your kind of food, you have to go just for the atmosphere! Oh, and the trademark service of the cashiers is that they are yelling out, "What'll ya have? What'll ya have?"

Graduation

Derrick graduated Saturday morning!  He completed all requirements for his STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Architecture, and Math) Learning Center, so he earned the red cord.  He also was inducted into the National Technical Honor Society, but he wasn't allowed to wear the white tassel that came with that.  We are so proud of him!  He is off to the University of Arkansas this fall where he was one of ten freshmen accepted into the architecture program!  It was quite an accomplishment for him considering his family:

Gotta love my sister!  I think I could do an entire album of the goofy pictures she takes of me whenever we are together!!