20 Years in Review

Meme

I stole this from this guy who stole it from SEV

20 years ago I . . .
1. was in 3rd grade
2. learned how to tell time
3. wore pants under my dresses...with tennis shoes.  I was cute.

15 years ago I...
1. practiced piano for hours every day....If only I could still play..
2. refused to wear glasses because I didn't like the way I looked in them
3. sent an e-mail for the very first time

10 years ago I . . .
1. went to school in OH. Yeah for meeting one of my best-est friends!
2. almost lost my life on a snowmobile with the friend mentioned above!
3. realized I was not a fan of college cafeteria food

5 years ago I . . .
1. finished my BS degree in Kinesiology
2. went to Brazil

3 years ago I . . .
1. Married my husband...what a great year!

2 years ago I . . .
1. Started working on a trauma floor as a RN...

1 year ago I . . .
1. I spent a week in the OBX

So far this year I . . .
1.  traveled to the Bahamas and Vietnam.
2.  moved to NJ.

1 week ago I . . .
1. hung out with my mother-in-law
2. realized I talk about my old job too much

Yesterday I . . .
1. went to the chiropractor
2. tried to stay up and watch "modern family."   I woke up an hour after the show finished.  Guess I was tired!
3. fell more in love with my husband...he did the dishes for me!

Today . . .
1. survived the "state" officials at work
2. did lots of pull-ups at home because I was too tired to drive to the gym...plus I didn' t want to deal with the muscle heads that show up after work

Tomorrow I will . . .
1. fly to TX!

In the next year I will . . .
1. continue to consider getting my MSN....(master's of science in nursing)
2. learn to navigate through "the Jersey" way of life

 

Saving Money....Day 9

I've discovered that if re-usable canvas totes really can save you money.  I have received 6 "green" bags in the past year....If I take them to Shop-Rite...they subtract 30 cents from my grocery bill every week.  I know that is not a lot, but if you do the math.....

.30 x 52=$15.60 per year...

I must admit that this is not totally accurate for US, though.  Sometimes, I purposely leave our canvas bags at home so I have enough lunch bags for Joel, poopy containers for Maddie and garbage bags for our small trash cans.  We're classy, right?!?  Anyway, as I've said before...it's the little things that add up.

Happy Birthday, Linda!

Today was my mother-in-law's birthday!  She and Milton came up for a quick visit.  We had a great time.  I'm pretty sure I talked her ear off the first day she arrived.  Guess I've missed girl time since the big move.  We also....
1) Drove all over New Jersey.  I'm pretty sure I'd still be lost if she hadn't been in the car with me
2) Went to a movie.  I cried my eyes out.  It was a good one...more to come on that later.
3) Ate Korean food.  Yummy.  I love the rice noodles.
4) Visited a local deli...Valiani.  I think the parent-in-laws enjoyed seeing the Jersey culture at this fine establishment (and the food was to die for of course)

Happy Birthday.  Thanks for coming...don't stay away for too long!

I Miss You, Norfolk

Today, Joel predicted I would write about the things I miss in Norfolk.  I decided he came up with a pretty good idea....so here you go.

1)  Ohhh...epic and electronic charting.  How I miss you!

2) Community Group...are you sure you don't want to move to NJ?  We have a larger house, now.  I think we could all fit!

3) Trinity Presbyterian.  I miss Jack's sermons and the style of worship music.

4)  NCHS basketball.  I'll never forget you!  (I know you are also amazing at football and cheerleading...but I always got too cold to enjoy these sports).

5)  Ocean.  Sea Glass.

6)  My beautiful niece, Kalen....I miss your hugs!

7).  Doggy door.  I miss the freedom of NOT having to walk Maddie everyday!

I'm Ready For One of Those

Me,  "Joel, can I have one of those?"

Joel replies in joking voice, "You want to go to the store tomorrow?"

Me, "Yes, but I don't know how I would ever choose which baby I wanted...I think I would pick them all."

Joel, "Yeah, that might be kind of hard."

Me,  "Yeah, I'm glad I get to sleep in, eat and drink what I want, and give  babies back to their parents right now.."

Saving Money-Day 8-A Small Fortune

I've concluded that I have spent a small fortune on cleaning products in my short life.  Paper towels, Swiffer microfiber cloths and countless other products have probably prohibited me from having a really nice wardrobe/masters degree/fill in the blank.  When I gave up using paper towels, I decided to quit on my swiffer cloths also.  I just slap a cloth microfiber cloth towel (I've even used old terry cloth rags) on the sweeper and clean away.  I'm still horrified every time I pull the cloth off.  Seriously, I should be swiffering twice a day!  Thus, I've come to conclude that cloth rags work just as well as those expensive throw-away type.  PLUS, I'm not spending $5 for 16 measly wipes, which will probably last 8 weeks at the most.  That is $32.50 a year if you use two swiffer cloths a week.  I know $32.50 a year is not a lot, but it's all the little things that add up folks!

Towel

Attach towel to swiffer

I'm a little embarrassed by this, but I wanted to show that this really works

I additionally save money by wetting the towel with a mixture of windex and water.  I feel this works even better than wet swiffer pads because of the fibers in the towel. So,  if I wash my floors twice a week with a re-usable cloth instead of a disposable one, I will save approximately $46/year.  (In order to find this number, I found online that 12 wipes cost about $5.30.  If one uses 2/week the box will last 6 weeks.  6 into 52 [the number of weeks in a year] is 8.67.  8.67 x $5.30= about $46.


$46 +32.50= $78.50 savings per year.

Jersey Misunderstood...

There are a few misconceptions about Jersey I'd like to clear

1) Rude people.  I have not found this to be true at all.  In fact, I think the people here are actually more friendly than any other place I've lived....I've met more close and extended neighbors here than I have in any other state.

2) Ugly.  Obviously anyone who says this about our geography and neighborhoods have not really seen the state.  Yes..there are some urban areas.  Don't those exist in every state...not to mention most towns?(outside of Jersey of course)

3) Jersey shore....yeah, not a lot of Snookie's wandering around here.  Although, a lot of the 20 year old men do resemble the guys on the show.

4) Churchless.  I have a feeling this area could contend with the Bible Belt.

Righty-Oh...that's all I can think of for now (I've been hanging out with a couple of people from the UK lately)