500 [+ 2]

Monday marked day 500 of being married to Mister Christopher and so as I knew this day was approaching, I wanted to do something special for him. (Because as much as I don't like to admit it, the busyness of teaching and coaching sometimes quenches my creative juices and I don't love him as creatively well as I would like. Confession over.]


So as I thought and thought and thought some more about what I could do, I thought that I could make a list of 500 things I loved/appreciated/respected about him. That seemed like a great idea until I remembered how long it took me to write 100 things about him before for a gift. [Of course it took so long to actually write, it wasn't that I couldn't come up with that many things.] So I went back to thinking and this is what I came up with...


I took post-it notes and wrote '500' or in some cases '5<3<3' I even did this in bed with Chris laying right next to me. And when he asked what I was up to, 'Oh just working on stuff for tomorrow'. There's a benefit of being a teacher, I am always working on something odd so writing on post-it notes seemed normal. [And notice I didn't lie either!] The next morning I got up early didn't oversleep so that I had enough time to shower and attack the house with post-it notes... on the light switches... on the fan... on the toilet seat... on the roll of tp... on Chris' phone... on the walls... on the front door... on the fridge... in the fridge... on his car... in his work shoes... in order-taking folder... on the table... and just about anywhere else you can think of, I put them. 


I gave him his g'bye-have-a-good-day kiss and giggled as I walked out the door. In my 7 minute drive to school I also successful logged into both of our Facebook accounts and changed our statuses and wrote on each other's walls '500!'. At 8:53am I received a text 'The post it monster stopped by last night!' To which I laughed and replied 'What?!' This was similar to the Olive Garden monster breaking in and covering our fridge with OG magnets one night. 


On my way home from school I counted out 499 red Swedish fish in a big fish bowl and put one larger yellow Swedish fish in the mix and accompanied it with a fish card that said, "There may be 500 fish in the sea, but you are the only one who was created just for me!" :) The delicious fish were waiting for him when he returned from work. 


While I loved doing these two simple things for him, that was not my most favorite part of the day. My favorite part? When I got to listen to Chris grin and tell me how he told his co-workers about the post-its and how some even made comments that you don't hear stories like that everyday. Chris felt special and loved and that's imperative so I was thankful that I took the small amount of time to do something for him. 


Sometimes I wonder how couples don't take time to show each other that they love each other. Don't get me wrong, I still cherish hearing him say "I love you!" for 788 days [the number of days since our engagement when we said I love you for the first time] but sometimes I need to be reminded of it in a different way... and so does he.


Second favorite part of the day: Receiving a text message from Chris while I was at my volleyball game...

*1436* is Chris and my "shmily" [to read what that is visit my friend's blog]. 1436 represents the number of letters of each word in: I love you muchly! I found it encouraging that a couple that persevered and loved so well for so long had such a neat story and every day we are continuing in our own story. 

I hope that when we are old and wrinkly, and everyday that leads to that day, that we continue to love each other well so that others are encouraged that a true love can persevere! 

A Couple More Stockers

For my own 'records' I'm going to try to keep up on my purchases on here as well. So here's a couple since that I didn't include before.

September 18th:
Spent:     $1.26          Saved:     $10.98         Number of Items: 2          Saved: 90%
     This was just on toilet paper. :)

September 20th:

Spent:     $7.13          Saved:     $37.09         Number of Items: 22        Saved: 84%

September 22nd:

Spent:     $9.85          Saved:     $35.29         Number of Items: 16         Saved: 78%

I realize that the dates look like I live at Meijer, but don't worry, I don't. I could combine these purchases, but sometimes it's an excuse to get out of the house : ) [or they are out of something and it wasn't until tonight that I thought, 'Duh Rachel! Raincheck!' :) ]

Shopping

Within the last couple of months [actually it was on August 11th that I Facebook-declared myself as a crazy couponer], I have been couponing. It is so. much. fun!

For one I actually pay attention to how much things cost. Before "good deals" were simply based on how much something costs today compared the the full price tag under that little yellow attention grabber. I had no idea what the usual cost was of items. Now I see shoppers going crazy with $ .50 off sales and shake my head and smile because I know that 1/2 the time it's usually $1 off.

Also I am not so drawn to those little yellow tags. I know that if I don't really need it, and it's not a really good deal, it's not worth it! I actually say No!  to a sale! *gasp* :)

There are a lot of things that I have learned by couponing and the best part is that we save SO much money!

Since my receipts were laying around, I figured I should figure out exactly how much we have been saving! So here's the breakdown:

August 28th:
Spent:     $67.59          Saved:      $96.05         Number of Items: 66         Saved: 59%

September 1:
Spent:     $4.08            Saved:      $34.54         Number of Items: 14          Saved: 89%

September 17th:

Spent:     $53.03          Saved:      $61.86         Number of Items: 43         Saved: 53%

September 18th:

Spent:     $44.44          Saved:      $95.11         Number of Items: 56         Saved: 68%

We'll see if this continues, but for today's shopping below is a pic of what all I purchased. 

Not pictured: 10 lb. bag of potatoes and a case of water. Pictured: More than a cupboard full!

How can it not be fun to bring that much home and know that you saved as much as you did!

Anyways, off for some more shopping...not grocery shopping :) baby shower shopping!

Mobile blogger, eh?

Finally. *sigh*

Over the course of the past 3 months I have started a post in my mind countless times. I have a thought, experience or conversation that results in "I should write about that" running through my mind. On one occasion I even spent 45 minutes writing a post that never was published because it was never saved. [That's what happens when I'd rather spend time with my husband that on the computer and my computer has a janky battery that dies. Drats!]

Despite all that, an update that encompasses most of the "blog ideas" I failed to type is finally here.

Tomorrow marks the end of week 3 [3 weeks?! Already?! Holy cow!] at Lima Senior. Each week has only been a 4 day week for the students, but I don't think the transition next week to a full 5-day week won't be much different. So the question that lingers, 'How is it?!' And my response to that 'Great!' After doing my student teaching there, I knew I wanted to be on staff full time, but the past 3 weeks has truly exceeded my expectations. So far [*knock on wood*] it has been easier and better than my student teaching experience--which is a pretty big statement.

Reasons why Lima Senior Progressive Academy has my heart:

-No Barbies There: There are "fakes" in every community, but when it comes to my students it's hard to find one. They share what they think. They aren't there to impress me. And if they want something known, they say it. I love this about my students! Some of the conversations that I have the privilege of sharing with my students are ones that could have with students else where and the story is the same, but they are conversations that other students shy away from for one reason or another. This leads to an additional reason PA has my heart...

-You Learn Something New Everyday: Of course I hope that my students are learning something new everyday that has to do with mathematics, but I learn something new everyday as well. This too comes from the students. Many of their lives are so, so much different from my white picket fence upbringing [which I am of course very thankful for for countless reasons] so I can learn so much from them. I hope that they are learning something about life from me as well. But I know that all I can do is live a worthy life and live an open life to absorb as much as I can from others. Some of my students' life stories are ones that I couldn't have imagined and to learn and be encouraged by them is rewarding.

-Living Life on Purpose: We all like to have purpose, I am not special in that, but one thing that I have recognized [although it has been true as long as I can remember I just didn't know it] is that I like to be needed. Call it prideful if you'd like, but regardless I like to feel needed. [Flashback: This was even true when I was in late elementary/early junior high when I would be babysitting either with the parent still there or on my own and if the baby would begin to fall asleep I would do something to keep that babe awake... take away the pacifier, uncover to make chilly, play with their feet, etc. Of course it was nothing that was harmful and I have grown out of this so momma's don't worry about me being near your children! But I would do this because I needed to feel needed by that baby.] So another reason I am PA is because I feel like I am needed for a purpose there, which is twofold. Students need to learn math and understand it in a way that they can apply it outside the fours walls of my classroom but the other fold is personally. I have had 3 students who have chatted with me in a way that I know they have talked with other teachers [I know this because they tell me so ;)]. Some conversations are light-hearted and others more serious, but the great part is that they happen!

Of course I want to be known as a teacher who teaches her content, but on some levels, more importantly I want to be known as a teacher who truly cares for her students. I'm working on it!

*Within the next week [I work better with deadlines] I will retype and post the post I can nearly finished when my computer died. You can loosely hold me to that! ;) *