# 30

Another thing to check off of my 30 by 30 list! 

A few weeks ago I hosted my first (of hopefully many) tea party at my home. It was lovely. 

Three of my wonderful friends came over. We had scones, some tea sandwiches and tea of course. 

For dessert we had chocolate moose with strawberries in a chocolate cup. 

It was yummy, if I might say so myself. :) 

Now I do realize that there are no pictures of people, but you'll just have to take my word on that one. I forgot to get my camera out until after they left. Oops!

My goal is to host at least one Tea a month. I want to invite the ladies I work with next. Unfortunately my apartment isn't very big so I'll only be able to invite a few of them at a time, but I know it will be fun. 

I'm so excited to cross another thing off my list!

a little crumbly, but very tasty scones

I found a cute chocolate mold at a craft store.

Teas I found at Cost Plus World Market.

Day off

 

It was so nice to have Monday off of school. Unfortunately Julie still had to work. But we tried to make the most of it as a family. We met up with Julie downtown and walked over to Sift for some delicious (!) cupcakes. Just in case you don't know. Sift is a recent winner of Cupcake Wars on the Food Network. I've only been there a few times, and I love it. This last time I had a Samoa cupcake that tasted just like the Girl Scout Cookie. Yum! 

Julie had to go back to work and I decided to give my parents a little time at home without Dani. We drove over to Howarth Park, fed the ducks (illegally -- oops!), walked on the trail, and played on the playground. It was a gorgeous day and we had fun just the two of us.

Love this verse!

Matthew 6:25-31
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
    “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’

# 26

I've finally been able to start checking a few things off of my 30 by 30 list! Yay!

#26 - Get a massage
Over Christmas break I went and got a massage. It was so nice and relaxing. I could totally get hooked on having them if I had enough money. Someone gave me a gift certificate for my birthday (in May) to Massage Envy. It took me long enough to use it.
I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Financial Peace University

About a year ago my sister and I took Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University class at her church. It was such a good experience. I learned a lot and Julie has been really good about keeping me accountable. I got a lot out of the class, but I am most definitely a work in progress.

Before Christmas my church announced that they were going to offer the same class on Sunday evenings. I knew right away that I needed to take it again. One of the huge benefits to this class is that once you have paid for it you can take it as many times as you want. That totally benefits people like me. You know, the people who have to hear something at least 3 times to actually understand it.

Tonight was the first class and already I am feeling motivated to do well financially. There were things in tonight's lesson which I had written down in my book last year that I most definitely did not follow through with and I am kicking myself for that. I could have been way ahead of where I am now.

Here are some of the things I took out of tonight's lesson on Super Saving:

• Saving must become a priority - saving money will help me to feel content more than spending it will. 
• Use Pre-Authorized Checking withdrawals to transfer money to my savings account before I even know it is there. (and maybe don't even have that money written in my budget to begin with) 
• Discipline is the key ingredient to do well financially. 
• I MUST START NOW!!!

I was talking to a friend after the class about how Dave Ramsey really encourages us to get a $1000 emergency fund as fast as we can. This stresses her out (as it does me), but I reminded her that it is just a baby step. It isn't going to happen overnight. We have to take it one day at a time.
Sure there are people who could put $500 into an emergency fund every month, but there are others (myself included) who will only be able to put a little bit in at a time. I think the key is to make a very detailed budget and find things to cut out of your regular spending. For me, I am going to cut out Starbucks and fast food. For one thing it isn't healthy to be eating out like that on a regular basis, and it also adds up very quickly. Dave Ramsey also stresses that it takes a lot of discipline. And I think the discipline we need comes from God. We really need to be seeking God's strength in this area. It is easy to slip back into old spending habits, but God can and will give us the strength that we need. 

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. 

- Hebrews 12:11 (NIV)

Friday Fav 5

1. Asante Children's Choir - This group of children came to school this week to preform for chapel. They were amazing! It was such a huge blessing. 
2. My parents - Thursday was a very tiring day for me and I am very thankful for the encouragement my parents were to me. I especially needed a hug from both of them and that is exactly what I got. :) 
3. Clean water - There are so many people all over the world who don't have clean water. I am so spoiled! My tap water is even clean and I have to use a Brita filter before I drink it.
4. WOW - On Sundays I go to a fellowship group called Women of the Word. It hasn't been till a few weeks ago that I have realized how much I appreciate them. They are such blessings to me. Each week they ask how I am and they genuinely want to know. I also know that they are praying for me during the week. I am so thankful for them. 
5. Good directions - This morning my friend Jen and I drove an hour and a half to go to a school spelling bee. The directions we had gotten off of google weren't very good and we got a little lost. Obviously what isn't what I'm really thankful for. We stopped at a gas station at one point and a very nice man helped me figure out where I was supposed to be. That is what I'm thankful for. :)

Look out for the Spelling Master!

I did something new today.
I was the Spelling Master for a group of 22 - 6th graders.
That means I was the one to sit in front of the microphone (wish I had a picture), give the word and a sentence to the students and tell them whether they are correct of not.

I can't even describe how nervous I was to begin with! It was bad.
One of the mom's called it hyperventilating.

I prayed a lot and had several people praying for me. My voice was pretty shaky at the beginning, especially when I had to give the instructions, but after a few rounds I really became focused. I tuned out everyone except for the student standing in front of me. 

I was shocked at how difficult some of those words were! Several of them I had never even heard of. Good grief!
As we were getting toward the end of the spelling bee there were several words that I mispronounced and had to correct myself. That was a little embarrassing, but what can I say, they were hard words.

In the end I had a really good time. I loved the response of the girl who won. She and a boy had been going back and forth for a while, and when she finally won she jumped in the air and had this excited look on her face. It was priceless.

I think I would like to do it again, but maybe with a younger group of spellers where the words are a little easier for me to read. :)

Student Quotes

My coworkers and I do a lot of laughing at school. Working with kids can be hilarious! Here is a funny quote from today. I actually wasn't there, but heard about it after school.

During 2nd grade music the teacher was showing the class pictures of stringed instruments. When she showed them the violin she pointed out the two holes that look like "f"s. One of the boys then said, "They are like two lovers looking into each others eyes."

Oh my! I'm actually glad that I wasn't in there to hear it, because I would have been laughing so hard!!! I'm not sure how the music teacher responded, but I'm sure she did well.

Friday's Fav Five

This is something I tried doing a long time ago on my blog, and I decided that I'm going to try again. It is a great way to reflect on the week and see what God is doing in my life. 

1. Reading Scripture - this was one of my "New Year's Resolutions." So far I've been staying on track and I look forward to it every day. Yay!
2. One of my co-workers announced that she is pregnant! I'm so excited for her and her husband! 
3. My students - I can honestly say that I was looking forward to coming back to school this week. I love my students and I was very excited to get back to teaching them! Thank you, Lord, for my job!
4. Hot coffee - It has been a very cold week. At this time in my life, part of my job is to do early morning yard duty. This means that I am outside from 7:45-8:15. Brrr. This week has been so cold. Once I get done I usually go to the office and get a nice hot cup of coffee, which warms me right up. 
5. Hugs - Three days a week Danika goes to school, and on those days she always runs out to the playground to give me a hug. I love it. It makes my morning so nice. This morning was very cold and she was so cute all bundled up and with her little pink nose. 

End of Christmas Break

1. Sleep in - done pretty well with that one
2. Read a book for fun - I'm reading Inkheart, but still have a ways to go.
3. Take my car in to get fixed - all fixed!

4. Clean my apartment. I mean really clean! - Why is this so hard for me!!??!
5. Get through a few books I need to read for work - I started reading one of the books, but still haven't finished it. 
6. Get a massage - amazing!
7. Finish typing out my Grandma's recipes
8. Cook a few of my Grandma's recipes - made my Grandma's meatballs on Christmas Eve
9. Work on my Christmas quilt- almost done cutting out the fabric. Then I can start piecing it together.
10. Organize my Tastefully Simple business
11. Clean out my closet and get rid of a few clothes that I don't wear.
12. Read a book at Starbucks


Not too bad! 
Back to school tomorrow. I'm generally looking forward to it, which is good. I do wish that I had a little more time to work in my classroom, but that is my own fault since I only went in once to work in my room. :o/

Stalling - Pumpkin Seeds

I am so terrible. Whenever I have things to do I usually can find something else to do. I'm sure I'm not the only one and I'm sure my mom is not going to like reading this post.
So today while I had a few things that I need to get done today I decided that I needed to use up the sugar pumpkins I had. I grew them in the garden at school over the summer and fall and they've been sitting around waiting for me to do something with them. So this afternoon I baked them and pureed them. Now the puree is sitting in my refrigerator draining in cheesecloth to get the extra water out. Online I read that I could freeze it and use it for later. I think I'm going to make a pumpkin bread with some of it tomorrow night.
I also took care of the pumpkin seeds. I LOVE PUMPKIN SEEDS!!!! I went onto allrecipes.com to see how long I needed to roast them and I found a fun recipe for them. Oh! They taste just like candy! I posted it on my food blog even though it isn't one of my Grandma's recipes. I might have to get more pumpkin seeds so I can share it with other people. I might just eat all of this batch on my own. :)