I love a good bargain!

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a die-hard K-State fan. Well, one of my favorite places to shop is Kansas Sampler. For our anniversary, I got James a nice Cornhole set. It's wood and unpainted and I decided instead of painting it, I wanted to put K-State Power Cat decals on them and then coat them with polyurethane.

So I was planning on going to Kansas Sampler sometime soon anyway, but I made it a priority today when my friend Lisa told me they were having a super sale.

I ended up getting over $500 worth of clothing for less than $200. For his birthday, I got James a Royal's shirt, a K-State polo, 4 short sleeve K-state t-shirts, and a long sleeve K-State shirt. For myself I bought a long sleeve Chief's shirt, a Royals t-shirt, a pair of cropped K-State yoga pants, a K-State zip up hoodie, a long sleeve K-State shirt, and 4 super cute K-State t-shirts. I will never have to buy KSU apparel again! Though realistically, I probably will.

These 4 items were what I paid for.

These 16 items were what I got.

I LOVE a good bargain!

Summer Job = STRESS!

I've always had a summer job, ever since I started teaching. Despite the fact that I get paid year-round, it's nice to have some extra income for things like weddings and buying houses. I also, quite frankly, think I would be bored out of my mind if I didn't work during the summer.

I have yet to find the perfect summer work situation. One summer, I just tutored. That summer I felt like I had a little too much time on my hands and kind of wished I would have worked a bit more. Another summer, I was a nanny for a family. That was the same summer I was working on my Masters and also getting married, so it ended up being a bit too much. Not to mention the fact that the kids I was nannying were pretty high maintenance and thus required a lot of attention and energy. Last summer, I taught a 6 week summer school and while it wasn't ideal, I decided to do it again this year. I figured since I'd already done it before, it'd be a pretty easy gig. WRONG! I have a very different mix of kids this summer and without being too negative, let's just say this has been anything but easy. The past 9 days of summer school have been the hardest of my teaching career. I think it's safe to say that it's just been way more stressful than it's worth and I will be needing to do something else next year.

Prior to teaching, I spent my summers bartending. While I really enjoyed doing that, I have no desire to go back to working nights. I enjoy my evenings with my husband way too much. However, I'm not sure it'd be worth my time to bartend afternoons somewhere. That sort of job doesn't usually pay all that well.

So, what SHOULD I do next summer? Thoughts?

It's Tool Time!

One of the items on my 101 in 1,001 list is to build something with my husband. James is a guy (obviously) and thus is pretty good with tools. Me? I've used a handheld screwdriver and a hammer. That's it. So I got pretty excited when I decided we were going to build a washers set this weekend.

Saturday we made a trip to Lowes and Home Depot to get supplies (2x4s, PVC pipe, wood screws, epoxy glue, and grass carpet). Then we got up Sunday morning, ate a big breakfast, then went out to the garage to get to work.

We measured, we sawed, we sanded, we drilled, we screwed (get your mind out of the gutter), we painted, and we glued. The whole project took 3-4 hours, but I enjoyed every minute of it. And we got the pictures to prove it.

This is AWESOME!

Welcome to the Jungle - Cello Duet

It's summer?

Last night two of my coworkers and I went to our former first graders' baseball game. Between the two teams, I had 7 of my boys from this past year playing. It's funny that just a week ago, these were the same boys who would excitedly come up to me first thing in the morning with a 10 minute story to share. Last night, many of them played the shy card. They'd give a smug smile and look down as they said "Hi, Mrs. Asher." I did still get a few hugs...though most of them were from the moms. I had an awesome group of moms this past year and really enjoyed visiting with them last night. They all seemed to ask me the same question, "How's your summer going?" And I was left thinking....it's summer? Though it's only been a week, I feel like I haven't really had a chance to take a break yet. I've been busy, though I guess there's been some fun stuff too.

Last Thursday was spent in my classroom getting things packed up. We're getting new carpet over the summer, so the end-of-year-shut-down-your-classroom-process is considerably more work than usual. That night, James and I ventured out to Zona Rosa to get Mumford & Sons concert tickets from a craigslist guy. We ended up doing Happy Hour drinks and appetizers at Tomfooleries while out there.

Friday I spent the day running errands. Oil change. Home Depot. Etc. That night was the Buzz Under the Stars concert at City Market featuring Cake and Mumford & Sons. It was hot and crowded but Mumford was awesome! Overall...a good night.

Saturday, I headed out to St. Joe with the girls for Book Club at Sarah's. We had brunch and mimosas and took turns passing around Baby Noah. I love that little guy! When we got back into town, I helped James paint the office. I've come to realize when you buy a house, you don't ever just sit on the couch anymore. There's always stuff to be doing.

Sunday was filled with more errands and more painting. I did get to hit up the pool for a couple hours and miraculously did NOT get a sunburn!

Monday I spent all day in workshops...not the best time of my life, but we did get to go to Blue Moose for lunch, so that was positive. That night James and I went to Jerry's to play some poker. Good times.

Yesterday I was back in my classroom for nearly 5 hours but finally got everything packed up. Now I just need to haul a load of stuff over to Barstow and get my classroom set up there. Perhaps that will happen on Friday becauswe today I decided I'm not going to be productive in any way. I'm going to celebrate summer! So, I slept it...until almost 8:30! I'm going to go see a matinee (Water for Elephants) with my friend/coworker Jenny. Then this evening, a few of my gal pals and I are going to dinner at 75 Street Brewery then hitting up a Starlight show. I believe tonight is "The King and I" which I haven't seen before, so I'm pretty excited. I guess summer is here!