High School Dreams

This post is inspiredf by a Mama Kat prompt that went something like :What were your plans and dreams when you first graduated high school?

I had this problem when I graduated highsschool, but it was probably one of the better problems you could have. I had too many dreams and not enough direction.

There were som nay things I could do, wanted to do dreamed of doing, that it was hard for me to pinpoint a major.

I dreamed of writing popular fantasy novels (still do)

I dreamed of being an archaeologist, experimental archaeologist or urban planner

I wanted to be a TV reporter, or talk show host.

I wanted to graduate from college (check), get married (check) and have kids before I turned 27 (no way jose!)

I wanted to be a Girl Scout leader (still do).

I wanted to travel the world (I've since been to England, Scotland, France, N. Ireland and S Korea and have dreams of visiting many more places)

I dreamed of volunteering.

I dreamed of publishing many things.

Of working for the Girl Scouts, and eventually being  a CEO because the current lady sucks monkey butt.

I thought about going into advertising.

I thought about living in Charleston SC.

I wanted a red convertible VW Bug.

I wanted a job in PR/Comunications.

I wanted to be an event planner.

What were your HS dreams? How have they shifted? How are you living your dreams?

Plans

I plan on posting a blog everyday in June. I need to get back to writing, and this is an excellent place to get my juices going. I think getting in the habit of writing something every day is a good habit for me to get into and I hope this will help.

Please feel free to join in. Or if you don't want to blog everyday maybe you could suggest prompts  or ask a question that I could answer in a post. I plan on writing at least one prompt a week from Mama Kat. Although they may not be the current week's prompts.

Upcoming topics include:

Notes from a Small Town Grocery Store
Chicken and Dumplings recipe
High School Dreams
Back to job hunting
and hopefully, ABC posts on letters R-Z.

Menu Planning Never Ends

I came back from my graduation vacation to a house with no food. Mostly because I'd left it that way on request. Mike said he wanted to eat out with a friend some and would take care of the rest. So I left him the coupons (nope, didn't touch them).
So seeing as we really needed something for dinner last night (we had yogurt, macaroni noodles, wheat bread, 6 eggs  and half a jar of peanut butter) I made a quick menu and grocery list. It won't get us as far as it usually does (a month) but I was hungry and in a rush.
Lastnight : Frozen garlic butter pasta (apparently it got a thumbs down for not being "manly". I ate the leftovers for lunch) At $2.99 for 4 servings, it wasn't bad!
today: Philly Peppers
until we run our of food:
1. Mexican Manicotti - it was a huge hit last time so hopefuly I'll share the recipe
2. Chicken and Dumplings, one of my favorite foods but not his because I boil the chicken
3. Pasties (another favorite, this time with Racheal Ray's modifications)
4. breakfast skillet
5. pancakes and bacon
6. veggie meatloaf and mashed potatoes (hopefully he won't notice the hidden veggies)
7. Bouchons au Thon
8. Roast and veggies
9. Peaches and porkchops (will probably recieve the not manly enough complaint)
10. Lo Mein
11. Burgers

Hotglue, I love you!

Since I am going to see my best friend on Thursday I thought it would be appropriate to answer the Mama Kat prompt "Describe how you met your best friend."

Luisa and I met the summer before our senior year of high school in Charleston, SC. We both attended the Governor's School summer program on the College of Charleston campus.
We were suitemates. She was the roommate of another, now lifelong friend, and I roomed with a snotty girl who obsessively bleached her upper lip.

We became fast friends over meals, late night games, picnics, brick theft, trips to the beach, walking around King Street and not feeding the squirrels.

She helped me end, and cope with the aftermath of an emotional/mentally abusive relationship. Since then we've seen each other date oddballs (mostly on my end) and meet some real winners.When we left we both cried, and she wrote me a very sweet note. Since then our friendship has only grown deeper (thanks in part  to another summer program and sharing a college town).

The counselors at Governor's School promised us we would make lifelong friends, and for that gift I am eternally thankful.

Getting Excited....

In 5 days I'll be heading south, to the sweet Carolinas. My niece will be traveling with me and our first stop will be in Winston Salem to visit my grandparents and the onward to my home sweet college town for my college graduation.
I'm so excited about seeing a lot of my friends and family. It will be the first time I've gotten to spend time with any of them since the wedding.
We should arrive in my collegetown Thursday morning. I want to spend my Williams Sonoma giftcard that I won through With This Ring and then spend some time with my former roomies, followed by graduation rehearsal and dinner...followed by...
BAKING WITH HOTLGUE! LIVE AND IN PERSON! Hopefully, we'll be making Baklava, giving each other our new challenges and maybe maybe doing a vlog!
The rest of the weekend is filled with my niece and I getting in our favorite southern bites (waffle house for her, brusters and cookout for me), hanging out with my long missed buddies and of course, graduation festivites.
I'm secretly hopeing my niece will fall in love with Converse like I did and will make plans to go to college their.
In preparation I stocked up on chips (4.99 after coupons, orginally 8.99), hershey's bliss (2.75 instead of 5.29 after coupons), free crunch bars and 20 cups of yogurt for $9. Now all I have to do is grab a few bottled waters for fifty cents apiece and we'll be good to hit the road!
I can't wait for warmer weather and good friends.

Kickin' Off the Season

Out of the few days that have been both sunny and warm I'm glad this past Saturday was one of them. It gave Mike and I the chance ot kick off our yard sale-ing. We went to a 15 family yard sales and then went to the Salvation Army, Chipotle for lunch (if you have the choice go to Moes instead. Moe's rocks the pants off Chipotle) and then to Gabriel Brothers ($15 sketchers!!) and Sears for some sales (can you say half off a mattress because it was a store display?!).

Mike scored some jeans at Salvation Army and as usual, I walked away empty handed. I found a cute pair of heels that fit perfectly and then we noticed that they had paint all over one side of them. Sigh. I think men in general donate better clothes than women do. We wait until it is decades out of style to get rid of something.

We did fairly well at the yard sale though. We walked away with:

A cooler and four books:

A cute strawberry to hang in the kitchen:

A vase that Mike picked out (it fits the fruity decor that came with the apartment):

A photo album and gift box:

And a shell soap holder than I'm going to use on my nightstand as a jewelry holder. I can put my earrings in it before bed and it will give me the appearance of being more organized.

I almost bought something very similar on this trip but thought Mike wouldn't like a beach themed bathroom. He said I was right. So, my corner of the bedroom can have a little beacy going on!

Have you started yard sale-ing yet? Found any good deals? I think we may be hitting up three sales this weekend!