Rock the Plaza

These are the pictures from Rock the Plaza the other night, which me, Jenn and Kate went to.

I always look frightened in these pictures for some reason.

Look at Kate's new jewelry!!

I just like watching all the people...

I need another pot of coffee.

Seriously, I don't know how parents do it. Parents, how do you do it!? I am utterly exhausted today. I really really need some more caffeine or something.

Last night after VBS, Emma and Jessie came home with us to spend the night. We also had Josh and Jenn staying with us, so even though we were all reaaaally sleepy, we knew we wouldn't go straight to bed. Emma and Jessie needed showers after running around outside, so we did that. Jessie made sure to show me her hairdos that she made with the buttload of shampoo that she used! She made mohawks, ice cream cones, and George Washington. It was so hilarious! After that, the three of us were sleepy, so we went ahead and read our Bible story and brushed our teeth. We went on to bed while Josh, Jenn and Stephen stayed up to talk.

At about 1:15, I was woken up by Emma announcing that she was sick. We went into the kitchen to get some koolaid and Pepto. When we got back into bed, she slipped in with us, and within ten minutes was jumping up to race to the bathroom. Poor Emma. I got her some coke and saltine crackers and we laid down on the couch together to settle in for some Veggietales. We watched all of Little Joe and she still wasn't ready to go to bed, so we watched Duke and the Great Pie War. I totally passed out during the last 15 minutes. It was over around 3:15 and I pleaded with her to try to go to sleep. So we got back in bed and sure enough, she passed out pretty quickly. I tried to let them sleep in as long as possible this morning because I knew they would be exhausted by the end of the day. They couldn't believe that we got to work before it opens, and we didn't even get here until 5 till 8!! They were amazed that I usually get to work by 7:00. This was the funny conversation Jessie and I had this morning while straightening her bed head:

Jessie: Amanda, you should be glad you guys don't have children.
Amanda: Why?
J: Because our house is a mess!
A: (laughing) Is that your fault?
J: (solemnly) Yes.
A: Why don't you do something about it?
J: Well, what happens is, I bring toys downstairs to play with them and then I just leave them there instead of putting them away.
A: Well, why don't you put them away?
J: (shrugs)

It seemed funny this morning anyway. Right now she is sitting beside me measuring everything in sight and taking notes. She's filled up a whole page front and back with measurements. I think I did stuff like that when I was little. I loved it.
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Yesterday mom, Jenn, me, Granny, Elsie & Shirley (Granny's sisters) went to Panera Bread for lunch to catch up. We all live in the same town but never ever see each other, and certainly not all at once. It was HILARIOUS. Those sisters are so cute! Jenn and I figure that's how we'll be in about 50 years or so. They are really fun.

I got my second Human Dev. paper back last night and got a 94 again. It kind of irritates me because I followed her feedback to the letter and she gave me pretty much the exact same feedback as the last paper. Whatever!

IcyHot? Pshaw!

IcyHot? More like HotBurningScalding! Yes, I am out of shape. I think that much is clear. After more squats and jumps and side bends last night at VBS, my abs and thighs are burning this morning! Hence, the IcyHot. I feel like an old woman. Also, I feel smelly. But it is so much fun.

The hardest group is the 2-4 year olds. They are so easily distracted! So last night, I got smart. When we did our winding down song, I knelt down to their level to do the motions. Within seconds, four of them were inches from my face, staring at me and doing the motions too. After a verse or so, 5 or 6 of the other kids pushed their way up to where we were and did it too. It was so cute! With me being so close to them, there was no opportunity for them to get distracted by anything else!!

The goal this week is to get points by answering questions correctly, saying Bible verses, or winning at games. It's girls vs. boys and right now the girls are ahead 39-33! Last night, Jessie got three questions right! That made the girls win last night. She was ecstatic! Whoever wins out of the boys or girls gets to pie the preacher tomorrow night. Although he is totally against the idea for some unknown reason. Hey, as long as it's pie that you like, what's the big deal!?

Tonight Emma and Jessie are spending the night at our house after VBS. We're gonna be soooo sleepy, but I'm excited. They are really cute when they aren't running around screaming at work. Hopefully I'll post some pictures tomorrow.

Hump Day!

Hump Day is here! I am not really sure if I am happy, relieved, or sad about that. It means that we're halfway through with VBS, so that's good and bad, closer to leaving for PA, which is good, closer to the day my final research paper is due, which is bad... I have so many mixed emotions!! I wanted to post some pictures from the first night of VBS, which was Monday. I'm the music director, but that night we all did music as one big group, so for the rest of the night I just walked around taking pictures. Last night, and for the rest of the week, I did each class individually. Let me tell ya, I haven't worked out that much in ages. I made these crazy cool motions to go with all these songs, and then forgot to take into account the fact that I have to do them over and over again to teach four different classes! So for one song, we sing "Sin is a drag that will pull you down" and we squat down really fast. Just doing the song once I end up doing about 70 squats. And that's everyone's favorite song so I do it at least twice per class. We also jump about 70 times in that song and about 200 in another. So my calves and thighs should be good. Also, our theme is aviation, so two of the songs really get into flying and I have everyone put their arms out to the sides and bend from side to side like they're flying. I do that about 800 times a night. So my abs should be good too. My legs are so sore today! Hurts so good! Anyway, enough talking - here's just a sample of pictures, but not so many to overload you I hope.

Kimberly shows me how the picture frames are supposed to work:

Stephen is the recreation leader (and an airplane mechanic. no really. literally and at VBS.)

Our youth group kids are... interesting.

A helicopter was going to come land, but there was a bad storm and they couldn't make it, so they rescheduled for Thursday. To make up for it, the multitude of fire engines and ambulances we had there went crazy with their sirens, lights, and hoses!

So even though technically we weren't supposed to get wet this year... oh well. Also, our preacher thought it would be hilarious to set off a smoke bomb halfway through the night! I only caught the end of it, luckily, because I was inside, but Stephen coughed up black stuff all yesterday because it went off right at the recreation area. Of course the kids thought it was so funny!

I got a great video last night but didn't upload any pictures from last night since I was leading music. When I get another good batch I'll post them.

Long update

I seem to have this awful pattern of not posting because I have pictures to accompany certain posts. So I'm just going to update now and post pictures at some point when I have time.

Thursday night, I met Jenn and Kate in Southern Pines to hit up Rock the Plaza, which was at the Shops at Belvedere (across from The Pilot). There was a band (if you could call them that) and all the shops stayed open later than usual. I got these sweet homemade candles, lilac and mango, which were buy one get one free because they are discontinuing them. I have been burning them at work and everyone's been asking where to get them from. Nick's Nacks! I also finally got a hot dog from Dog Nation, and it was so delicious I just want another one! I had a really good time at that because I love the quirky shops like those. I hope we try to go in July when it happens again. After RTP, Jenn and I went back to my crib to watch "30 Days". You can read all about that here. Oh, I also forced Jenn to watch part of Pop Up Videos (which she claims not to remember, and I believe her, but it is a shock to my system that she never saw them as much as I watched them growing up), and most of America's Got Talent, and the best one of all - the new NKOTB video for "Summertime". Wooooo!! I can't help it, I will always have a special place in my heart for NKOTB. I just can't help it.

Friday, we couldn't believe that Jenn and Matt were AVAILABLE. GASP!!! They came over and played 9 holes of golf. I was afraid that Jenn would really hate it, but she wasn't any worse than Stephen or myself, and we've been playing much longer. Hopefully she'll play again. Then we went out to eat and it was delicious, and so nice to eat out. We did eat out one other time this month, with Tony and Jan, so we splurged this month! Well, not really, because the other time they paid for our meal. So actually we did good!

Saturday I had to be at the shelter by 6:50ish to relieve Ginny. I was prepared for a really slow 12-hour shift, maybe with a nap involved in there somewhere. I also wanted to finish some school stuff in preparation for being gone the week of the 4th. Well, when I got there, Ginny informed me that I was going to be training two new staff members. So, I really got nothing done. I trained one from 10-2 and the other from 4-6:30. 0 crisis calls. 1 wrong number. 1 telemarketer. All in all, a good day, because we don't want crisis calls! By the time I got home around 8pm, I was soooo tired. I got home and Stephen was cooking pancakes for dinner (yum!) and as soon as we ate, we passed out. I slept for about eleven hours (and darn proud of it!!) and woke up...

Sunday, and watched a couple of UFC fights before we had to be at church. Yesterday was a pretty bad day physically. I felt really physically exhausted even though I thought I had caught up on my sleep. I had a killer headache that I kept thinking would turn into a migraine, so I was popping Tylenol all day to no avail. Then I decided last night that I want to put the VBS song lyrics on posterboard for the kids to read while we sing. Hence, we had to run to Dollar General after church to get posterboard, and then I had to stay up extra late to write the lyrics on there in preparation for tonight. So this morning I felt pretty crummy, too, but I feel much better now.

This week is VBS and I am the music director. I am really excited but nervous about how it's going to go. Every night, Emma and Jessie are coming over for dinner, and then we'll take them to VBS. On Wednesday, Josh and Jenn will be with us as well. And Thursday, Emma and Jessie will spend the night after VBS. So we have a pretty full plate this week. Stephen and I are working as hard as we can to finish schoolwork before we leave for Pennsylvania next week. But we should be good.

Sorry that post was so long, but it had been too long since I last posted!

#47 - Mail a secret to PostSecret

Okay, I have now mailed a secret to PostSecret. I guess it feasibly could be months before it gets on the website, if it even makes it there. If it does, I will let you know, and it will be your job to figure out which one mine is! It is really funny, but it is a true secret, and I probably will not own up to it in front of certain people!

I have a feeling that scones could rule the world if they wanted to. Right now I am eating a scone that mom gave me yesterday, and it is perfectly cooked with raspberries in it and a buttload of sugar on top. I could eat so many of these at one time.

Picture update

The good thing about kids being at work is that they are really good at distracting you from what you are supposed to be doing... i.e. working. Yesterday Emma and Jessie got into this craft. I'm not really 100% sure what it is, but it kept them busy so, whatever. We ended up going out to take a walk and I took some pictures.

Jessie wanted to be sure hers looked like Rapunzel:

This one looks like the keychain she made for me:

Other than that, I guess the big news is our newest purchase:

It's a Chevy, I know that much, but I don't even know the model. I guess it's like the F150? Anyway, it'll be a lot better for hauling than the Ranger was. We didn't even have that one long enough to blink at, I'd say. Anyway, we like this one because it reminds us of Ol' Blue. And that's all.

#9 - Go to at least two concerts

Okay, let me see if I can remember everything I was going to post. I completed the concerts portion of my 101 list. Back in March, we took our youth group to Winter Jam, so that was one concert. Then on Saturday, we went to see Third Day, so there's my two concerts! Saturday we took the youth group to Carowinds for 14 hours of a sun-filled, fun-filled, no-barfing-allowed good time. We never have any problems with kids barfing because half of them have a fear of heights and the other half don't like rollercoasters that go upside down. Anyway, I thought we had a great time. I love rollercoasters. I think my favorite part is finding out where the camera is and then making goofy faces for the picture. Although I never buy the picture, at least we can all gather around and laugh at it after the ride! I rode most of the rides with Lauren, our preacher's daughter, who for the first time was 54 inches and could finally ride the good rides. I think our favorite was Ricochet. It takes you on these 180-degree turns where it feels like you're going to just fall right out of the car. We watched for the camera and when we got to it, we planned to make this really funny face and stick our hands on our heads like deer antlers, but it just so happened that we were going down a hill at the time so it looked even funnier than planned. We also forced talked some of the braver kids into riding Drop Zone with us, where you drop 100 feet in 6 seconds. Last year our preacher wouldn't let anyone ride it because that girl's legs had just gotten chopped off by a similar ride in Kentucky. But this year we braved it. I wish I had a camera for the look on some of the kids faces, but since I was riding I didn't have my camera with me! Anyway, we had a lot of fun and I really hope we can go back in October when Skillet is playing there. I love seeing them in concert!

Do yourself a favor and look at these pictures on Jenn's blog. Friday her and mom called me excitedly with an idea to decorate dad's car for his last official day of school. It was SO much fun and his reaction was priceless! So go check them out!

I actually think this week is going to be the slowest week I have in a looooong time. So I am going to embrace it and do as much schoolwork as possible. My next class will start in a week, and then my classes will overlap for a couple of weeks, so those will be the toughest times (FYI, that is also the week of VBS and Stephen's sister and brother will be staying with us then). So don't blame me if I'm grumpy! Okay, you can blame me. My next class I have a book report due every week. So I am going to venture into a cave and return in 8 weeks.

Last night we went to Jenn and Matt's for a Father's Day celebration. Thanks for hosting us, y'all! We had a great time and the food was awesome. I'll post some pictures later. Not tonight, though. Tonight after work I am going straight to the shelter and putting in some second shift hours. Hopefully I'll still be home before Stephen passes out (hah!). Okay, let me go get some work done.

#2 - Buy a dining room set

Well, remember that great dining room set we found at a thrift store? It's ours! And therefore, I can cross #2 off of my list. I really love it. It needs just a little bit of work but it's very minor touch-ups. As you can tell, we didn't waste any time in moving our puzzle onto it. Can you tell how often we eat in the dining room?

That's all I have the energy to post tonight. The past couple of days I've been working at both the shelter and the store and I am utterly wiped out. I can't imagine how I'll feel after pulling a 24-hour shift. But don't feel sorry for me - I chose this and I am LOVING it. I wouldn't want to be doing anything else.

Good night.

Edit: I just did all that and totally forgot to post the pictures of the dining room. Here you go:

A series of fortunate events

In the past few days, we have had some very fortunate events happen to us.

1) On Thursday, Stephen was sitting at a computer working when suddenly, he was Chicken Little. I mean, seriously, the ceiling collapsed on him. He was just sitting there, and suddenly pushed back from the table just as an entire section of the roof (including a light fixture) swung across where he had been sitting. He took pictures of the event. Most likely if he had been hit, he would have had a severe head injury (like, it would have been rolling around on the floor) or been electrocuted by all the wiring. He said that all the guys just kind of stood there in shock, and then one of them said, "And THAT'S why you gotta make sure you're right with God!" I guess it was pretty funny after the fact, like that nervous-funny feeling. So that was fortunate because I still have a complete husband.

2) Friday night we were out with Tony and Jan, and I was kind of throwing myself a little pity party. See, when we moved into our house, we got this dining room set from Stephen's sister to keep until we could afford our own set or until she got a house (which we thought was in the far-off future). So when she called us last week and told us she'd be coming to pick it up this weekend, we kind of got that heart-racing, throat-gulping, financial-sweating thing going on. The real problem is that I couldn't care less what our dining room set looks like, but Stephen likes for everything to match. So I'm thinking, what are the chances of finding an entire dining room set that we both like, with every piece that he wants, that matches, for a price we can afford!? Enter Sandhills Coalition. I just happened to go by there on Saturday to drop off some donations (which wouldn't have happened if I hadn't gotten off work because of a random snake sighting), and the ONLY reason I went inside was because I saw mom and dad's truck outside and I wanted to go inside and mess with them. Imagine my surprise/shock/pleasure when I saw: a Broyhill dining room set complete with table, two extra leaves, 8 chairs, a server, and a China cabinet... for $500!!! Let me repeat that. $500!!! We haven't decided definitely on it yet because Stephen hasn't seen it, so it's being held for us until he can go look at it tomorrow. But I'm 95% sure we're getting it. What a HUGE blessing!! We can definitely afford that, and the set is nice enough to keep for many years until we can really afford some new stuff (if we ever decide to go in that direction). I am speechless.

3) Saturday afternoon we received our state taxes back - and it covers Stephen's entire schooling for this semester! Mine was already paid off and when I found out I had to lay out all that money for him, I just groaned. So this check can go straight to Liberty. Wahoo!

This week is going to be really hard for me, so I'm just gonna pray that I get through it without hurting someone! I am going to be working both jobs throughout the week, plus I have something at church Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights, and I have two discussion board things to turn in for school, plus a paper. Oh, plus the fact that school gets out tomorrow which means that for the next two months work = daycare. So if I can get through this week I can do anything!! P.S. Don't get me wrong - I love every single thing I will be doing this week, even the homework. So I am not really complaining, this is just my way of making myself better at time management! P.P.S. Okay, I really am complaining about work = daycare though.

Stem cell research

I got a 94 on my first paper in school. It's my first grade below 100 and I'm still pleased with it, considering how long it's been since I wrote a paper! Anyway, I'm going to post a link to it here if you want to read it. That way you don't have to read it if the topic totally bores you (like I thought it bored me!) And the link also may not work, I'm just testing it. So this might all be worthless!

Stem Cell Paper

#78 - Memorize 20 different scriptures

I did it! Even with my awful memory I memorized 20 scriptures in 21 weeks. I started saying them in front of my youth group on Wednesday nights so that I could have people witness it and so I could be held accountable. After two weeks of me doing it, they started memorizing scripture on their own (they found out we were hoarding candy and would give it out as a reward!) Now they are all doing a program where they are memorizing one scripture a week, and every week they have to say that scripture and all the weeks prior. Does that make sense? Like week 4, they say Week 1,2,3 and 4 in one night. It really pumps it in there. Of course they don't have to but they're doing really well at it. It was funny because two weeks ago I didn't have a scripture memorized (it was a hard scripture and a harder week) and when I said that, there was a collective gasp from all the kids! They were in shock! So it made me feel good that they had really come to expect it from me. That holds me to the fact that I need to keep on memorizing even though I have completed this goal. The scriptures that I memorized were as follows:

1. Job 19:25
2. Matthew 11:28
3. Psalm 55:22
4. 1 John 4:8
5. Psalm 19:1
6. John 6:37
7. Psalm 143:10
8. John 14:6
9. Psalm 118:22
10. Matthew 18:20
11. Romans 5:8
12. Psalm 16:3
13. Romans 5:8
14. Psalm 127:1
15. John 14:15
16. Leviticus 11:45
17. Acts 4:12
18. Psalm 19:7
19. Romans 8:18
20. Romans 10:11

I didn't pick them, they were given to me or else I would have picked easier ones!

They grow up so fast

Can you believe it was only a few weeks ago our baby birdies looked like this?

Now they are all grown up!

Stephen's been talking for a while about building me a garden area this summer. On Saturday, when I got home from work, it was complete!! He surprised me by doing it all in one day while I was gone:

I think I had more to post but I don't remember it and we're leaving for Bible study. I'll check in later!

Weekend update

Can I take a nap please?

I guess this is how I'm going to feel from now on. I feel very out of it. But this weekend was really great.

Saturday I got up early to be at the shelter for the morning shift. I pretty much "trained" all day. I use quotations because there's no way to train for something where the job changes all the time! Last week when I was hanging out there, there was one lady staying there. By Saturday, there were 5. By Sunday, there were 6. So it's just up and down all the time.

About the time I got home from work, Nate came over to eat. We met up with our neighbor Dennis and played a couple of quick holes of golf for free. Then we grilled out ribs and taters. So good! Around 8:30, Steve, Cathy and Aaron came over so we could watch UFC 84. So by the time that was over and we were in bed, I was extremely ready for bed!

Sunday after church I went straight back to the shelter to hang out with the girls a little more, and stayed there until the night service at church. It was kind of boring because they didn't even get back from church until after 2pm and then they were just getting ready to eat and go back to church, so we didn't do very much. Needless to say, after getting home late last night from church I was still sleepy! Fortunately I had done my homework for Friday-Sunday on Thursday, so I didn't have to worry about any of that. Now I am just trying to make it through today without falling asleep. Stephen said he wants to be in bed by 8:30 tonight. Sounds good to me!