A Busy Week

Each week, I always feel like it's a "busy week." That's just the nature of teaching, though. However, I do have to admit that these weeks seem to going by so quickly! This was the best week my class and I have had yet. Still hoping for more improvements! Sunday after church, Dayna and I met up with some of our teacher friends, Jessica and Shaundra because they both had City Cash to be redeemed at New York & Company. They were so thoughtful to share with us so that we could save money too! What girl would turn that down?
I bought 2 shirts that were marked down 40% off and then 2 necklaces that were buy one, get one 50% off. The total came to $64, but with the 2 City Cash coupons Shaundra gave me, I ended up spending $35. Not bad at all for 2 shirts and 2 necklaces!

Afterward we enjoyed laughing and talking with some Coldstone Ice Cream. :)
That shopping trip was the last fun I had on Sunday, as I spent from 5 in the afternoon 'til 2 a.m. getting ready for school this week. I cannot keep doing that-I become extremely exhausted! You can thank me for stating the obvious! Ha!

I decided to join the choir at the new church I'm going to. I was involved in my church choir growing up from 3rd-12th grade. Then in college I continued to be involved in music ministry as a member of the Collegiate Chorale, choir, and Chapel praise team. During my internship and last half of the school year, I wasn't involved in any type of singing and I missed it a lot! I want to keep at it so that I can still be relatively good at it. Ha! So last Sunday, the music pastor announced that they were seeking new members to join the choir and they had a whole page in the bulletin dedicated to that, so I felt that was God's way of saying, "Kaitlin, you've been thinking about it and this is your opportunity." It was perfect! So, I filled out my information and went to choir practice this Wednesday night and the people were friendly and I enjoyed it! This Sunday will be my first week singing with them in church. I'm really looking forward to this opportunity!

I started decorating for Fall two weeks ago because quite frankly, I just couldn't see a reason why I should wait! Ha! Fall, in my book, is almost as exciting as the Christmas season. Although I've never experienced a true Fall, I just love the semi-break of the heat and the smells of the candles in the stores and I just think that the colors of Fall are beautiful. If only I lived in a more northern state so I could truly experience the season's beauty!

I bought this arrangement at Michael's for $3.99 a bushel and the vase was also $3.99. The reason they were so cheap was because the whole collection was clearanced. Good for me!! It's perfect for Fall and the regular colors I decorate with year-round.

The placemats are from Wal-Mart. I love them!! I decided to get 2 solid colors and 2 printed ones so that the table wouldn't look so busy.

The leaves are also from Michael's. They were $1.99 for 12 leaves. They have a velvet feel to them and look so pretty!

I found this little collection at Walgreens for super cheap and knew it would look perfect on the kitchen bar counter.

I also have some pumpkins and other leaves I got at Walmart but don't have a picture of them yet. I would love to decorate more, but I really shouldn't spend any more money, especially because I know I'll want to go all-out for Christmas, too! I also am trying to save so that we can get our furniture on layaway by our scheduled date!

I'm so thankful it's Friday. I baked some Oatmeal Scotchies cookies tonight, cleaned my bathroom, folded towels, and caught up on some blog posts I've been working on! I feel productive! Dayna and I went to Cracker Barrel for dinner tonight and there I bought a cute pillar candle set unlike anything I've seen before. Once I get candles in it, I'll post pictures.

We have to attend "Data Day" at school on Monday but it's a holiday for our students, so that will be a nice break to get caught up while the kids aren't there. I don't have anything planned this weekend so I'm looking forward to just relaxing!