One year ago, I purchased my first house. I took a day off from work and sat in an office with my awesome realtor, my dad, and a mortgage broker. I must have signed my name at least 25 times that day. My Dad took me to Starbucks afterwards and it was just one of those sweet moments where he said he was proud of me. I love that.
So far, I love home ownership. It has been so fun to have people over for game nights and parties . I love hosting home group here. And I love the roommates that I've gotten to do life with: Sarah (who is now off in Nebraska with her husband), Claire, and the latest addition, Corrie.
Owning a home is a lot of work, but it's worth it. Like I told my family when I first started looking for a house--if I'm not building a family, I can at least build some equity(:\\
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Saturday, February 16, 2008
new blog address
Hello faithful readers!
I thought I would let all two (maybe 3??) of you know that I am changing my blog address on Monday. I want to change it so that my name is not out there for all of creation to find.
So....my new address will be: www.crownedwithblessings.blogspot.com
Yes, it's a little cheesy...but that's what my name, Stephanie, means so there!
Change your bookmarks so you can find me. I would hate for you to miss all of the wisdom I share on this space....ha.
I thought I would let all two (maybe 3??) of you know that I am changing my blog address on Monday. I want to change it so that my name is not out there for all of creation to find.
So....my new address will be: www.crownedwithblessings.blogspot.com
Yes, it's a little cheesy...but that's what my name, Stephanie, means so there!
Change your bookmarks so you can find me. I would hate for you to miss all of the wisdom I share on this space....ha.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Free goodness
I just thought I would share a couple of fun things that I've found to be useful.
1. Stickies
When I was student teaching seven years ago, one of my mentor teachers, Mrs. Wright, told me about a program called Stickies. It is a really cool, eco-friendly alternative to post-it notes. All you do is double click on a sticky note at the bottom of a your screen and--voila--a sticky note appears on your desktop. You can 'throw' the sticky away when you're done. You can also choose the color, font, sizes, etc. It's fantastic and I love them.
Here's are some exa
mples:
Mine are a fun pink color with a cool font.
Moving on....
2. Walgreen's Rebate Club
Another little weird/fun hobby I have is going to Walgreen's once a month and picking up a rebate catalog. They usually have 4 or 5 items that you can get for FREE after filling out the rebate information. I've been doing this since college and I promise you that I haven't had to buy toothpaste, floss, or a toothbrush in years! The rebate club takes care of it all. All you have to do is pick up a little pamphlet when you walk in, check out the offers, buy what you want, and then follow the instructions inside the pamphlet. It takes about 5 minutes to do--if that. Mail it away and you'll have a nice check that pays for everything in 6-8 weeks.
February is especially good. I am getting the following items for free:
A Venus razor
A bottle of Softsoap bodywash
2 bottles of those little 5-hour energy drinks
Maybelline lipstick/plumper stuff
Contact solution with travel kit
Garnier Conditioner
3. Baskin Robbins birthday club
Sign up here and get a free scoop on the week of your birthday. Yum!
4. Red Robin
Sign up and get a free burger on your birthday!!
There are a lot more sites like this but I'll leave you with these (:
Enjoy the freebies!
1. Stickies
When I was student teaching seven years ago, one of my mentor teachers, Mrs. Wright, told me about a program called Stickies. It is a really cool, eco-friendly alternative to post-it notes. All you do is double click on a sticky note at the bottom of a your screen and--voila--a sticky note appears on your desktop. You can 'throw' the sticky away when you're done. You can also choose the color, font, sizes, etc. It's fantastic and I love them.
Here's are some exa
mples:Mine are a fun pink color with a cool font.
Moving on....
2. Walgreen's Rebate Club
Another little weird/fun hobby I have is going to Walgreen's once a month and picking up a rebate catalog. They usually have 4 or 5 items that you can get for FREE after filling out the rebate information. I've been doing this since college and I promise you that I haven't had to buy toothpaste, floss, or a toothbrush in years! The rebate club takes care of it all. All you have to do is pick up a little pamphlet when you walk in, check out the offers, buy what you want, and then follow the instructions inside the pamphlet. It takes about 5 minutes to do--if that. Mail it away and you'll have a nice check that pays for everything in 6-8 weeks.
February is especially good. I am getting the following items for free:
A Venus razor
A bottle of Softsoap bodywash
2 bottles of those little 5-hour energy drinks
Maybelline lipstick/plumper stuff
Contact solution with travel kit
Garnier Conditioner
3. Baskin Robbins birthday club
Sign up here and get a free scoop on the week of your birthday. Yum!
4. Red Robin
Sign up and get a free burger on your birthday!!
There are a lot more sites like this but I'll leave you with these (:
Enjoy the freebies!
when I grow up
Today, my school had it's annual Career Day for the 8th grade students. This always precedes the Freshman orientation so that the kiddos can have a better idea of what classes they want to take in high school.
We kicked off the excitement with a keynote speaker, Jeff Crilley, who is a local news personality. He was pretty entertaining and motivating. As I sat there listening to the talk about hopes and dreams, and finding your passion, I felt as though I had missed the mark.
Growing up, I had occassionally flirted with the idea of becoming an obstetrician--how cool would it be to help bring a life into the world??? But that would not be a good job to have in conjunction with a family (and science was never my favorite thing--small detail). My aptitude test told me I was cut out to be a lawyer. Again, I deemed it too demanding. It hit me that I pretty much based my career choice on an assumption that my life would look differently at this juncture. That life would bear a striking resemblance to the one that my mom had led: Graduate college, get married, teach a year, get pregnant, take a break from teaching, have another baby, stay home some more, and then go back to teaching when the kids are both in school. In my eyes, this was the dream. And when I look at where I currently am, I feel very awake.
My life is different. That is not entirely bad. I've had the opportunity to do quite a few things that my mom never got to do in her twenties. But I am getting a place where I feel that the shelf-life of my dream is expiring and I need to find something else. The reality is that I am living a life that I didn't quite expect. And perhaps the hardest part of all of this is that it's not "okay" to struggle. Any hint of discontentment is frowned upon and met with some trite response of how this time is a "gift". Well, the truth is that it is hard at times and I think that it's okay. It is especially hard because the whole situation is out of our control. There is no degree-plan to getting the only job I've ever really wanted.
I guess I still have some growing up to do. I need to grow in my understanding that the Lord is worthy of my trust. He is still holy, even when I don't understand his ways. And just like Rita Springer says in this phenomenal song, He is sovereign even when my circumstances don't change. And while life down here may look different than from what I had planned all those years ago, the things that He has in store for my life is not a Plan B. Thank you Jesus for new mercies.
We kicked off the excitement with a keynote speaker, Jeff Crilley, who is a local news personality. He was pretty entertaining and motivating. As I sat there listening to the talk about hopes and dreams, and finding your passion, I felt as though I had missed the mark.
Growing up, I had occassionally flirted with the idea of becoming an obstetrician--how cool would it be to help bring a life into the world??? But that would not be a good job to have in conjunction with a family (and science was never my favorite thing--small detail). My aptitude test told me I was cut out to be a lawyer. Again, I deemed it too demanding. It hit me that I pretty much based my career choice on an assumption that my life would look differently at this juncture. That life would bear a striking resemblance to the one that my mom had led: Graduate college, get married, teach a year, get pregnant, take a break from teaching, have another baby, stay home some more, and then go back to teaching when the kids are both in school. In my eyes, this was the dream. And when I look at where I currently am, I feel very awake.
My life is different. That is not entirely bad. I've had the opportunity to do quite a few things that my mom never got to do in her twenties. But I am getting a place where I feel that the shelf-life of my dream is expiring and I need to find something else. The reality is that I am living a life that I didn't quite expect. And perhaps the hardest part of all of this is that it's not "okay" to struggle. Any hint of discontentment is frowned upon and met with some trite response of how this time is a "gift". Well, the truth is that it is hard at times and I think that it's okay. It is especially hard because the whole situation is out of our control. There is no degree-plan to getting the only job I've ever really wanted.
I guess I still have some growing up to do. I need to grow in my understanding that the Lord is worthy of my trust. He is still holy, even when I don't understand his ways. And just like Rita Springer says in this phenomenal song, He is sovereign even when my circumstances don't change. And while life down here may look different than from what I had planned all those years ago, the things that He has in store for my life is not a Plan B. Thank you Jesus for new mercies.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Furthering my Oprah/Anti-christ theory
I've always made flippant comments about how I think Oprah is extremely dangerous. Well, here's an article that my mom sent me.
This is an interesting read. I am not sure why the question marks are appearing everywhere but this is some scary stuff.
This is an interesting read. I am not sure why the question marks are appearing everywhere but this is some scary stuff.
Friday, February 8, 2008
Here we go again...
When Bill Clinton was in office, his daughter, Chelsea, was the subject of much ridicule. Many a week she was the punchline on Saturday Night Live because let's just say that she was not the most attractive teenager on earth.
Exhibit A:
Sadly, I was not the most comely adolescent. People would take pity on me and say, "Has anyone ever told you that you looked like Chelsea Clinton?". Yes, the self-esteem would just skyrocket after those comparisons. I would try to assume that it was just the curly hair or the blue eyes. Surely I was not similiar to the girl relentlessly mocked on a "Wayne's World" skit.
Almost 16 years have passed since I was 13 and I was last compared to the first daughter. Or so I thought....
Over the course of the past couple of weeks, I have had a small handful of people comment on how I resembled Chelsea. So, I would first like to thank Hillary for running for Prez and for bringing her daughter back into the spotlight. Maybe it's because self-deprecation is my default, but I thought I would post some pictures to compare.
Do Chelsea Clinton and I look alike?!?!?!?!
Exhibit A:
Sadly, I was not the most comely adolescent. People would take pity on me and say, "Has anyone ever told you that you looked like Chelsea Clinton?". Yes, the self-esteem would just skyrocket after those comparisons. I would try to assume that it was just the curly hair or the blue eyes. Surely I was not similiar to the girl relentlessly mocked on a "Wayne's World" skit.Almost 16 years have passed since I was 13 and I was last compared to the first daughter. Or so I thought....
Over the course of the past couple of weeks, I have had a small handful of people comment on how I resembled Chelsea. So, I would first like to thank Hillary for running for Prez and for bringing her daughter back into the spotlight. Maybe it's because self-deprecation is my default, but I thought I would post some pictures to compare.
Do Chelsea Clinton and I look alike?!?!?!?!
Monday, February 4, 2008
Happy Birthday Matthew!!!
It blows my mind that my little brother is 26 years old today. Where did the time go? My world was turned upside down on Feb. 5, 1982 when my mom and dad brought a little baby boy home. A lot of those first years were rocky. Actually, if I'm being truthful, the first 16 years or so of our sibling relationship was pretty strained. Occasionally Matthew would provoke me to anger or bite me (ahem) in the middle of the night. But, most of the time I was a jerk of a big sister to him. He has forgiven me and I like to think that my poor, selfish, bratty example kept him from making the same mistakes in his own life (:
Here are 26 reasons I love my brother
1. He loves Jesus and lives a life that truly honors him
2. He is funny
3. He knows when to keep his mouth shut. A lot of people think he's quiet but he's just smart.
4. He is a leader
5. He is a great runner...even though he doesn't really enjoy it
6. He is driven
7. He is wise with his money
8. He goes to Hillsong with me
9. He Turkey Trots with me every Thanksgiving
10. He loves my grandmothers and is patient with them
11. He will call me out when no one else will
12. I used to beat him up with a golf club and he still loves me
13. He knows how to wrap presents at Christmas time
14. He gives the best advice and often times it feels like he's the older sibling
15. He is loyal
16. He is slow to anger
17. He loves Cuba
18. He is honest
19. He will eat just about anything that you make for him
20. He is always up for listening to "Dosed"
21. He has great friends
22. He loves H-town
23. He is a servant
24. He is Marco's favorite uncle
25. He is one of my best friends
26. He has been the best brother these past 26 years!!!
I love you, Matthew!
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