one week to go...

until I'm completely done with my college classes!!!

then I have 3 days of exams(which are mainly just projects)....



You have no idea how excited I am about this!

an update of my BUSY life right now.

This week has been SUPER busy!

I had my first paper due in one of my classes, my first quiz, and I have a paper due tomorrow too... {that I haven't even started on}. It's totally OBVIOUS that I have SENIORITIS! Let's just say I have 89 days until I am a college graduate. {i just can't even believe it}.

I've been selling some bows from my blog store {www.paintbakeandcreate.blogspot.com}

We had 5th quarter{after the Friday night football games} at the church. It went REALLY well, we had a lot of students come after the wando, PCA, and Coastal Christian games. We didn't even get out of the church until 12:45am. Did I mention with about 40 wando football players there, it smelled like a locker room? {gross}

The next morning I was super crazy because I went yard sale shopping with my friends April and Sarah. After not going to sleep until 2am, waking up at 7 wasn't that easy, but TOTALLY worth it! I got just a few things which did include a couple of halloween decorations, and it was fun. Later on that day we planned a girls pedicure day with April, Sarah, Brittany, and myself. It was Sarah's first time getting a pedicure.... I couldn't believe that she had never had one!

But... The most exciting thing that happened this week was Harris Teeter was having TRIPLE COUPONS this week. In preparation, I just had to change my couponing system to the binder system. My friend Carissa {www.carissagraham.com} made one earlier this week, and even though I've been really wanting to transfer all my coupons to a binder, she really inspired me to do it. I borrowed my mom's label maker to create some NEAT & pretty labels for the different sections. I paid right at $10 for the binder, 16 dividers, and 35 pages of the clear 9 pocket coupon holder pages {found in the baseball card section at Walmart}. I labeled my 16 sections as followed: Cereal, Breakfast/Yogurt, Meats, Canned/Boxed goods, Frozen, Refrigerated, Desserts/Baking Goods, Snacks, Other Foods, Laundry/Dishes{soaps}, Drugs, Paper Goods/Household Items, Cleaning, Hygiene, Cosmetics, Store Coupons.

Did I mention that My Coupon binder is PINK?

It's totally Cute! It seemed A LOT easier to shop with the binder too, because you can see all of the coupons. Before, I just had a check file{you can see it in the picture above}. I get all of my coupon news/information through {www.southernsavers.com}

My Harris Teeter trip went REALLY well. I spent $30 and saved $45 and we are well stocked with groceries for at least good 2 weeks. I also went to Publix this week and did coupons, I think I spent $38 and I don't remember how much I saved. But I was really upset that Publix wouldn't take my CVS $5 off $25 purchase. What a bummer. I'm going to try and call and talk to the manager about it this week, because they normally take all competitors coupons.

Oh, When I was in Harris Teeter I did see a lady stare EXTRA long at me with my COUPON BINDER. I thought that was pretty funny. I guess you don't see too many people shopping with a very Large three ring binder filled with coupons. I've only seen one lady shopping at Publix with a the binder system, hers was a HUGE zip up black three ring binder with pink ribbon tied all over it. She was REAL serious.

I also have to say that I LOVE doing my grocery shopping with my amazing husband. He is my human calculator, and he helps me with the whole check-out process because my eyes are glued to the screen as I watch everything ring up right and make sure all of my coupons are being scanned the right way. At harris teeter he also was great because I needed to exchange an item{I grabbed the wrong package of chicken that wasn't B1G1Free} and I needed one more can of frosting for my coupon to work and be tripled. I hate it when I need something, and I can't just leave all my items on the grocery belt while I go get it!!! Mike helps me so much at the grocery store and I LOVE IT! Thanks Mike! :)

Welcome to June!

- First of all, I just got done with my maymester class! (I got an A!) It was a great class, and I had a lot of fun! Now, just for the records, I have only one more semester, and I'm graduating in December! It's 191 days away!!!!! ijustcantevenwait! :)

- ELEVATION! This is the summer camp that Seacoast has done for many years, and this is my second time going as a leader, we leave next Wednesday, June 10 and we will be there until Sunday the 14th! I'm looking forward to the trip, I have the 7th grade LP girls! We haven't came up with a good name for our group yet, my creativity hasn't come out in me yet! I'm still working on it!

- As soon as we get back from Elevation, 5 days later it's MISSIONS TRIP time! This is the first missions trip that Mike and I are going on together, and we are very excited to help lead this trip! We are taking a group of students to Guatemala, and we have been having meetings for the past few months getting ready for this trip. At our meeting today we worked on some dramas to perform at schools and orphanages, and the students did great learning them!

- Well, I always know it's officially summer when I start working full-time at the school. My group this year is 2nd-4th grade. Every week we have a different theme and we do different crafts, activities and games that relate to the theme! This week was "eye spy" week, we did a scavenger hunt, made magnifying glasses, and kaleidoscopes. Tomorrow we are going to Chuck E. Cheese (I love the pizza)! It should be fun! Starting next week we will be going to the waterpark 3 times a week! It is going to be awesome! I will be getting sun, and getting paid for it! It's really fun, and the kids love it! (Oh, and after doing this 3 times a week, I'm a suncsreen expert of putting it on kids! haha) Also, each age group goes on another field trip once a week other than the water park, so we are gone 4 out of the 5 days of the week! It makes work go by fast!

- One other special event that happened these past 2 weeks was my little brother Jacoby's high school graduation! It was also Mike's sister Brittainy's graduation too! We went to the senior drive through and made posters, then to the senior breakfast, and senior chapel! It was a weekend full of events! Here are some pictures:

-My little stepsister Katelyn graduated from the 5th grade last week too, they had a special ceremony, and it was very sweet, I can't believe she is going to be in Middle School! She got most athletic girl in her class, and I was very proud of her! She is so cute! Here's a couple pictures:

- This weekend is Allison's wedding and I am very excited for her and AJ. Allison and I have known each other since we can remember, and we became really good friends in High School! Her and AJ are getting married this Saturday at Old Santee Canal State Park! It is going to be such a fun wedding, and It is all about Allison, and I love that! Anything to make her day more special is all I care about! Here is a picture from this past weekend, it was Allison's "bachelorette" weekend, and we did spa stuff at Allison's new apt and here are the results, I'm the one with the "chocolate face" in the middle, the rest of the girls, except for Alexa on the end have "pink" faces, they just look like the got sunburned really bad.


- This next thing I have saved for last, because it is such a sensitive subject! One of my very best friend's in the whole wide world, Christina is moving! It has all just happened really fast, but I am very happy for her and Kevin moving back to Tulsa! They are leaving On Tuesday, after Allison and AJ's weekend wedding. I don't think it has hit me yet, because I have been spending just about every day with her, getting as much time in as I can with them before they leave. I'll post more about them leaving later (I'm tearing up just thinking about it)....


This is me, Michelle(with a crazy face), and Christina at Fonduely Yours, with our chocolate pot! It was so good! :)

a joyful ending

So I just wanted to let everyone know that I passed my World Literature class, and it feels so great! This class has been the biggest struggle of my college career. Here's the past behind it: I started out my freshman year of college at Trident Tech. I really liked going there, it was a lot different than going to Northwood Academy all 13 years of going to school.


I took spanish 1 my sophomore year, and didn't really like it, I was super intimidated by my teacher, and after taking spanish in high school for only 2 years I wasn't that well at it. I passed the class with a D, so I had to retake it, because only Cs and higher transfer. I got the C, and I decided that I was going to CSU. Well, I would have to take 2 more classes of spanish to complete the core requirements, so I decided to take spanish literature in place of spanish, and I would only have to take this one class instead of two. So I did take it my first semester at CSU, and I HATED it! All we did was read these spanish stories(that were translated to english). I ended up failing the class, and after a lot of tears I decided to just retake it as a night class, use all my notes and get it over with! Well, easier said than done. I started taking the class, and I really felt that I couldn't finish the class without failing it again, so I dropped out of it. I was in the middle of planning my wedding, and I really couldn't concentrate enough and focus to finish it.

So, I got married and decided to take the semester off of the spanish literature class and take other classes to get my GPA back up. I finished the semester without the lit class and got all As and one B. Then this spring semester came along, and I decided to see what other classes I could take in place of that one. I really wanted to take French Literature because I heard it was pretty easy, but it didn't fit my schedule, and I was absolutely NOT going to take Spanish Lit because of not wanting to take either one of the teachers I had already had. The only thing left was World literature, so I knew I just had to endure it, and get through it!

This class was really hard, and Professor Brickey was a very challenging teacher. After getting a D on my first test, and a F on my second test, I felt like I was hopeless. Yes, there were MANY MANY MANY tears! I asked Professor Brickey if there was any way I could do some extra credit, and she said I could! PRAISE THE LORD! So I did the 8 page paper, and I got a B! She gave it back to me after I finished my final exam, which I felt really good about too, and I almost peed my pants I was so excited. I couldn't stop smiling for the rest of the day! So the exciting thing is, I FINALLY got this class out of the way, and I don't have to take it over again.



I am rejoicing so much right now you really have no idea! I have one maymester class which I am really excited about, then the fall semester, and then I will walk across that stage at CSU as a college graduate, and I will celebrate!

Thank you to everyone who was praying for me during this semester, I know all the prayers helped!!!! I'm giving all the glory to God right now, there is no way I could have done it without Him! :)

Plus, now it's summertime, and that's my favorite favorite favorite time of year!

Just too excited to save it for later!

Two days ago, my hubby bought this for me and I am just so excited! Most of you are thinking, why didn't you just get a mac? Well, at first, that is what I wanted... it was going to be my graduation present if I kept my grades over a 3.0! (I graduate in Dec. 09) It was going to be a macbook air, but then Mike talked me out of it. He kept on saying, "Hilary, what do you need a mac for?, All you will use a new laptop for is internet, listening to music, doing papers for school, and pictures." Then I thought about it, and He was right, we saved over 500 dollars, and a special added touch, is that IT IS PINK!!!! I am just so excited! Plus, I don't have to wait until I graduate, I get it early! Yes, I do think mac's are super cool, but for my needs, this adorable PINK Sony laptop is perfect for me! Plus, It has these cool colored LED lights on the bottom of it that plays a light show to your music that is playing. It has a webcam too, which I am super excited about, because my laptop that I have right now doesn't have one! Because it is PINK, some of the proceeds are given to Breast Cancer Awareness foundation! I am looking forward to it coming in the mail this week, It's suppose to be here on Wednesday! Yay for my new pink laptop!

New Blog: here are some starting thoughts

As most of you know, I recently got married to my wonderful husband. I had a "bride blog" before this one, but I decided to start a new blog with my new name just to make it easier for me! If you would like to see my old blog, with my wedding updates on it, here it is: http://www.hilaryisthebride.blogspot.com/.

I am almost done with school, exactly one more year left for me, and believe me, this is the most exciting thing (besides getting married) that will happen to me! Well, maybe not the most exciting because I would like to have kids in a couple of years, so that will probably be more exciting, but you get the point! Graduating College for me will be a big deal!

I'm a big countdown person, I like counting down the days until birthdays, Christmas, or any other special holidays or events that will happen! So, speaking of countdowns, here is my first one: there are 27 days until Christmas!!!

Since this is my first year of being married, I told my mother-in-law that I would like to cook a casserole for the big Thanksgiving meal tomorrow! I cooked a broccoli casserole and some rice krispie treats! My apartment was smelling so good tonight!