13 in '13- July Review

Oops! I totally missed doing a June review, which probably would have been an important one to do since June is the half way point of the year. Oh well. Let's see how I am doing...

As a teacher we get paid at the end of June with 3 paychecks. Last year I decided to transfer it all into my savings and then set up a funds transfer for the last day of each month for the rest of the summer. It worked really well (much better than the year that I went to Europe after my big payday and had to eat Ramen for all of September). I did it again this year and its working again!

Um... not good. Not good at all. Things are worse now that I brought more stuff home from my mom's.

Woo Hoo! Selling a house is a long process, but we closed on the 12th of July. Now I am dealing with my lawyer on closing up the estate.

In May I had finished 7 books. I have been on a library tear lately. I read the Abram's Daughter's series (5 books), the last of the Harper Connely series, 2 books by Caprice Crane, a YA book that was just OK, and currently I am reading "Frenemies." That makes 14+ the one I am currently reading.

This should not be this hard to do. Bleh. I am actually feeling pretty crummy about myself and I know that working out would help that. I am so lame.

The only time I have taken out my sewing machine was to sew up an apron for some cherry picking for my BFF. Clearly that is not more.

In June I volunteered at a 5K with several of my Leadership students. I did the same thing last year, and it was a ton of fun.

I haven't done very well with this one. I'm not working so I really don't have an excuse. I just need to try to make some plans with my girlfriends!

I shared how I went through my closet in June. I should tackle my bathroom next and organize/get rid of the crap ton of samples I have in there.

I don't know if this one is going to happen. I didn't plant a garden this year and my cherry tree didn't produce very much fruit this year :( I am still holding out hope for Salem Harvest posting a harvest I can go to (my favorite charity) Usually there is some good apple harvests, and I do love me some apple butter.

Craig and I have been doing some weekend trips. We stayed in Seaside and went up to Astoria where we saw the Goonies house and the school Kindergarten Cop was filmed at. We are also getting ready to spend a long weekend in San Francisco.

Here is another one that I have done absolutely zero on. Realistically I know painting our bedroom is a 2 day job at most, so why haven't I done it yet??

Are you keeping up with your resolutions?

Lessons from this summer

One part of being a good teacher is also being a life long learner. This summer I have been to 2 different professional development conferences and learned quite a bit that I will take back to my classroom, however I thought I would focus on some other things I have learned this summer.

1. There is a Royal Gynecologist

Who knew that was even a job title?

2. In the middle of downtown in a capitol city, chickens can escape

A truck carrying live chickens through downtown Salem overturned creating havoc. And now PETA is asking permission to erect a statue of a crippled chicken at the site of the accident.

I wish I was making this up.

3. MLM businesses freak me out

I do love me some smelly candles and personalized totes, but I don't like the cultish aspect of some of the pushy distributors. I have a Facebook friend that is really into some coffee thing whose name reminds my of bat poop. 

4. Candy Crush is the devil

What have you learned this summer?

A Book Confession

I have a confession.

I really like reading book series. Like a lot. I think this explains it.

I mean, I just invested so much into these characters and into this world, I don't just want to walk away. Plus, if I start a series that has been around for awhile, I can binge and read them all. (I started the Stephanie Plum series last year and read all 18 in no time.) I have heard some people say that books in a series aren't as good as other books, but I always enjoy them.

My first trip to the library this summer was a couple weeks ago. I knew I wanted to try out some of the Amish "romance" books Michelle loves so much. I had asked her for a suggestion on where to get started and she pointed me to this series.

Goodreads

At first I was a little hesitant to dig in. I mean, it was in the "inspirational fiction" section of my library, and I had never even walked in that area. I am so glad I finally read it. And, it is the first book of  a series so I can continue to read on about the sisters and their lives. It did take a bit to get used to the style of writing (it jumps from the POV of each sister) and to get used to the dialogue. I am now starting the second book and it picks up right where the first left off.

Also while wandering in the library this title/cover art caught my eye (I admit, I judge books by their cover. Especially when I just start wandering through the fiction section without any thing in mind.)

Goodreads

I wasn't even in the "moonlight madness" section, and I still found a book on vampires and demons. And it happened to be the first of another series. This one is about a retired demon hunter who now lives in the 'burbs and hasn't told her husband or teenage daughter about her previous profession. (Think if Buffy grew up and tried to hide her past.) This was a quick, fun read. Perfect for summer time. I also read the second in the series already.

Other series that I have read and really enjoy: The Southern Vampire Mysteries by Charlaine Harris (the True Blood Books), the Alex Cross series by James Patterson, the Betsy Taylor series (Mary Janice Davidson) and the Harper Connely series (also by Charlaine Harris).

What are some of your favorite books? Do you read series?

Summer Weekends #3 &4

Oops! What is it about summer that somehow sucks all my time away? I started this post last week...then it was the holiday weekend. Here's what's been happening around here!
Summer weekends really are the best.
2 weekends ago we celebrated our anniversary with a trip to the coast. We had planned this a while ago, and then mother nature decided to play along. Summer came early to the valley, and it has been in the 90's. The temperature at the coast was in the mid 70's-80 and it was amazing. We decided to head to Seaside for our beach trip. From there we could head over to Astoria. In Astoria we took a little movie tour

The Goonies House

The school from Kindergarten Cop

I basically had to beg for Craig to "do an Arnold pose"

We also hung out at the beach

For the holiday we hosted a BBQ at our house, watched our small town parade and just hung out. The weather was fantastic (still!) and we had a good time. We didn't make it down to the fireworks. But we (and poor Gus) could hear them from our house.

I know I took this same picture last year. 

During the rest of the weekend I went to a Zumba party at the park (so fun!) saw The Heat (so funny!) and Craig and I went out for a quick hike. I am trying to make the most out of my weekends this summer, and so far we are doing a pretty good job with it!
How is your summer?